Autotalks – Onn Haran Co-founder and CTO and Hagai Zyss CEO (Courtesy company PR)
Qualcomm’s planned takeover of Autotalks, an Israeli startup that develops V2X solutions for use in smart cars, is in jeopardy after European regulators raised concerns. The European Commission said that it has accepted the requests submitted by 15 EU Member States to assess the proposed acquisition of Autotalks by Qualcomm under the EU Merger Regulation (‘EUMR’).
Qualcomm is an American firm, but it operates in Europe and so the company needs European approval for such a deal.
At issue here is the V2X technology developed by Autotalks that collects data on traffic jams, stop lights and speed zones.
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“The transaction would combine two of the main suppliers of V2X semiconductors in the EEA (European Economic Area). The V2X technology is key to improving road safety, traffic management and reducing CO2 emissions as well as for the deployment of autonomous vehicles,” the European Commission said.
The Commission also stated that the proposed acquisition by Qualcomm “does not reach the notification thresholds set out in the EUMR,” and it was “not notifiable in any Member State.” Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden were all listed as nations that expressed concerns.
The European Commission is concerned with the fact that the merger would combine two of the main suppliers of V2X semiconductors in the EEA, Autotalks and Qualcomm. “The V2X technology is key to improving road safety, traffic management and reducing CO2 emissions as well as for the deployment of autonomous vehicles,” it explained. “It is therefore important to ensure that customers such as original equipment manufacturers or infrastructure managers retain access to V2X technology at competitive prices and conditions.”
It was revealed in May that Qualcomm was looking to acquire Autotalks for $400 million.
Founded in 2008, Autotalks is a V2X chipset market developer which provides customers with what it describes as state-of-the-art V2X solutions. V2X (Vehicle-to-X) is the technology that allows for the exchange of data between vehicles as well as between a vehicle and a server via wireless networks. This is how a smart car exchanges information and allows a service provider of some kind to know where it is located, their speed and what the traffic is like, among other things.
This may sound like Waze, but Waze requires some sort of internet access, usually through a user’s cell phone. V2X tech offers its own networks, and services far beyond what Waze offers as well as all manner of encryptions and cybersecurity.
It is this technology that is at the heart of both Qualcomm’s desire to acquire Autotalks as well as the concerns over competition issues held by the EU.
