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Two weeks after Broadcom (News - Alert) made a move to buy Qualcomm, there’s another important semiconductor pairing afoot. This new one involves Marvell Technology Group acquiring Cavium (News - Alert) Inc. for about $6 billion.

Marvell sells HDD and SSD storage controllers, networking solutions, and wireless connectivity products. (And earlier this year Marvell (News - Alert) unveiled what it says is the world’s first octal multi-Gigabit Ethernet transceiver compatible with both the IEEE 802.3bz standard and the NBASE-T Alliance specification for 2.5 and 5 gbps operation over CAT5e cables.)

Cavium delivers multi-core processing, networking communications, and security and storage connectivity solutions. (Among this company’s offerings are the ThunderX2 Arm-based server platforms for high performance computing.)

“Individually, our businesses are exceptionally strong, but together, we will be one of the few companies in the world capable of delivering such a comprehensive set of end-to-end solutions to our combined customer base,” said Cavium Co-founder and CEO Syed Ali (News - Alert). “Our potential is huge.”

Marvell says this deal will expand its serviceable addressable market to more than $16 billion. The enlarged Marvell should generate $3.4 billion in annual revenue following the close of the deal. Marvell anticipates at least $150 to $175 million of annual run-rate synergies within 18 months following the close. The deal is expected to close toward the middle of next year.

Cavium shareholders will receive $40 in cash and 2.1757 Marvell common shares for each of their shares of common stock. These shareholders will own about a quarter of the combined company on a pro forma basis.

As noted earlier, the formal Marvell-Cavium announcement closely follows Broadcom’s unsolicited $130 billion bid to buy Qualcomm. However, Qualcomm’s board last week unanimously rejected that offer.

“It is the board’s unanimous belief that Broadcom’s proposal significantly undervalues Qualcomm relative to the company’s leadership position in mobile technology and our future growth prospects,” said Paul Jacobs, Qualcomm’s executive chairman and chairman of the board. 

Bloomberg (News - Alert) today reported that Qualcomm investors want at least $10 more than the $70 a share offer Broadcom initially offered.