ST-Ericsson sells GPS business to Intel

ST-Ericsson, a money-losing joint venture being wound down by owners STMicroelectronics and Ericsson, has sold its GPS mobile business to Intel.

ST-Ericsson, which focuses on mobile and wireless chips, announced the sale on Tuesday without naming the buyer. An Intel spokesman later said the U.S. chipmaker bought the assets.

Neither company revealed the price, but ST-Ericsson said the proceeds from the sale, combined with the avoidance of employee restructuring charges and other related restructuring costs, would reduce the joint venture's cash needs by approximately $90 million.

STMicro and Ericsson announced in March they were winding down ST-Ericsson, which has been hit by a big drop in orders from top customer Nokia and has struggled to compete with other chipmakers.

ST-Ericsson's GPS-related intellectual property rights and engineers add to Intel's already existing GPS assets, Intel spokesman Chris Kraeuter said.

(Reporting by Astrid Wendlandt and Noel Randewich; Editing by Christian Plumb and Bob Burgdorfer)