CEVA Acquires RivieraWaves, Expands IP Offering with Connectivity for Smartphones, Tablets, Small Cells and the Internet of Things

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., July 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- CEVA, Inc. (NASDAQ: CEVA), the leading licensor of DSP-based IP platforms for vision, audio, communications and connectivity, today announced that it has acquired RivieraWaves, a privately held company and a leading provider of wireless connectivity IP for Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® technologies. RivieraWaves expands CEVA's licensing and royalty revenue base in its existing markets: including smartphones, tablets and small cells, and extends the company's market reach to include emerging markets such as wearables, the smart home, connected cars and the Internet of Things (IoT). Collectively, CEVA's addressable market is expected to exceed 35 billion connected devices by 2020, according to ABI Research⁽¹⁾. The acquisition synergistically adds to CEVA's collective IP portfolio, establishing the company as a 'one-stop-shop' provider for a broad range of applications, including vision, audio, communications and now connectivity.

RivieraWaves is a prominent and leading IP vendor specializing in wireless connectivity platforms for integration into high volume, System-on-Chips (SoCs). Its latest Wi-Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth Smart 4.1 IPs are complete solutions, composed of both the PHY and MAC layers along with system and RF support, and are already deployed with leading semiconductor companies. RivieraWaves' Wi-Fi and Bluetooth IPs are available in both a power-efficient hardware-based design and a DSP-based design which provides flexibility for differentiation and a unified platform for LTE and Wi-Fi.

CEVA and RivieraWaves have successfully collaborated to address the Wi-Fi market for the last two years. The companies already have multiple joint customers deploying RivieraWaves' Wi-Fi IP on a CEVA DSP targeting mobile devices and the connected home.

Gideon Wertheizer, CEO of CEVA, commented: "RivieraWaves in an excellent acquisition fit for CEVA, enabling us to further expand into the connectivity IP space with production-proven leading-edge technologies, including the most advanced standards in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. We have witnessed first-hand the strong competency, innovative technology and customer traction that the RivieraWaves team has managed to achieve to date and warmly welcome the team to the CEVA family."

Ange Aznar, CEO of RivieraWaves, commented: "We are proud and excited to join CEVA, having successfully cooperated with them in the last two years for several joint customers. Our market-leading connectivity IP is highly complementary to their existing portfolio and together we are in a position to expand and strengthen CEVA's customer base and market reach. We look forward to embarking on a successful new chapter within CEVA."

Under the terms of the agreement, CEVA has agreed to pay approximately $19 million to acquire RivieraWaves. CEVA will make an initial payment of approximately $12 million at closing with the rest payable upon satisfaction of certain performance and other milestones as well as a two year retention plan for the current RivieraWaves' employees.

For more information on RivieraWaves' Wi-Fi and Bluetooth IPs, visit www.rivierawaves.com.

Conference Call to Discuss Acquisition of RivieraWaves

CEVA management will host a conference call to discuss the acquisition of RivieraWaves on July 9th at 9:00am Eastern. The conference call will be available via audio webcast and the following dial in numbers:

• U.S. Participants: Dial 1-877-870-4263
• International Participants: Dial +1-412-317-0790

The conference call will also be available live via the Internet at the following link:  http://www.videonewswire.com/event.asp?id=99934.  Please go to the web site at least fifteen minutes prior to the call to register, download and install any necessary audio software.

For those who cannot access the live broadcast, a replay will be available by dialing 1-877-344-7529 or +1-412-317-0088 (access code: 10048940) from one hour after the end of the call until 9:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) on July 24, 2014. The replay will also be available at CEVA's web site www.ceva-dsp.com.

(1)   Source: ABI Research - Internet of Everything Market Tracker

About CEVA, Inc.

CEVA is the world's leading licensor of DSP-based IP platforms for vision, audio, communications and connectivity. CEVA's IP portfolio includes comprehensive technologies for computer vision and computational photography, advanced audio and voice processing, wireless baseband (2G, 3G & 4G LTE/LTE-A), connectivity (Wi-Fi & Bluetooth) and serial storage (SATA & SAS). In 2013, CEVA's IP was shipped in more than one billion devices, including 40% of handsets shipped worldwide, powering smartphones from many of the world's leading OEMs such as Coolpad, HTC, Huawei, Lenovo, LG, Nokia, Samsung, TCL, Xiaomi and ZTE. For more information, visit www.ceva-dsp.com. Follow CEVA on twitter at www.twitter.com/cevadsp.

Forward Looking Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that if they materialize or prove incorrect, could cause the results of CEVA to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions.  Forward-looking statements include CEVA's plans for the RivieraWaves business; the strategic fit of RivieraWaves with CEVA and the benefits of the acquisition on CEVA's product offerings, combined IP portfolio and addressable market; and expectations regarding trends in the connectivity market, including ABI Research's projections.  The risks, uncertainties and assumptions include: the ability of CEVA to successfully integrate the RivieraWaves business and retain its former employees; the ability of DSP products incorporating RivieraWaves' Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies to achieve market acceptance, the speed and extent of the expansion of the connectivity market and other risks relating to our business, including, but not limited to, those that are described from time to time in our SEC filings.  CEVA assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or information, which speak as of their respective dates.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140708/124996

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120808/SF53702LOGO

SOURCE CEVA, Inc.