To boost go-to-market potential, Renesas has bought a minor equity stake in Sequans Communications, a French supplier of IoT modules.

At the Sequans shareholder meeting in June 2022, Renesas executive vice president and head of the IoT and infrastructure business unit, Sailesh Chittipeddi, should be elected to the Sequans board of directors.

“Renesas values Sequans’ comprehensive cellular IoT offering, which brings our global customers and us advanced 4G and 5G IoT capabilities that can address the broadest scope of applications and develop new markets with unique needs,” said Chittipeddi. “Our deepening collaboration with Sequans enhances our global presence with best-in-class cellular IoT.”

Sequans is a company that makes cellular IoT chips and modules. Sequans’ LTE-M and NB-IoT Monarch 2 and Taurus 5G platforms will benefit from the expansion of its existing 4G and 5G licensing agreements with Renesas, which will grant Renesas special rights that will improve the go-to-market opportunities for Sequans’ LTE-M and NB-IoT Monarch 2 and Taurus 5G platforms.

The transaction allows Sequans to expand its serviceable addressable market to India by leveraging Renesas’ sales, distribution, and customer support capabilities.

The total amount of the business agreements and the equity investment is estimated to be around $20 million this week, subject to usual closing conditions.

Sequans and Renesas have entered into multi-year partnerships to achieve a number of mutually beneficial objectives. First, the agreements improve production and product cost control, which is critical given current supply issues.

Furthermore, the partnerships strengthen and broaden the market potential for the companies’ joint product offers. Finally, the equity investment and board seat promote management alignment, which helps to strengthen the relationship and grow the joint venture.

“We are pleased to further strengthen our relationship with Renesas with the LTE-M and NB-IoT and 5G businesses, as well as the opportunity to add Dr. Chittipeddi to the Sequans board,” said Georges Karam, CEO of Sequans. “The expanded agreements reinforce our sales strategy and provide access to numerous new opportunities with a unique competitive solution while allowing us to leverage Renesas’ strong global brand and manufacturing advantages.”

Sequans is a cellular IoT connectivity developer and supplier, offering chips and modules for 5G and 4G large and broadband IoT. Sequans offers a product portfolio based on its flagship Monarch LTE-M and NB-IoT and Calliope Cat 1 chip platforms for 5G and 4G huge IoT applications, with low power consumption, a large set of integrated functions, and global deployment capability.

Sequans offers devices based on its Cassiopeia Cat 4 and 6 4G and high-end Taurus 5G chip platforms for low-cost residential, enterprise, and industrial 5G and 4G broadband IoT applications.

Sequans was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Paris, France, with operations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Hong Kong, Singapore, Finland, Taiwan, South Korea, and China.

Source: Sequans