Spreadtrum Communications Inc is a Chinese cellphone chip designer. The company announced having received a buyout proposal from China's Tsinghua Holdings Co Ltd. The said offer was valued at US$1.38 billion.

The offer was at US$28.50 per share piece represented a premium of 28% to the company's Thursday price on the Nasdaq. Spreadtrum said that the proposal is subject to board evaluation.

The Chinese chip designer develops chips for smartphones, consumer electronics products and feature phones supporting 2G, 3G and 4G wireless communications standards. Spreadtrum gets most of its sales from Korea and China. This includes HTC Corp and Samsung Electronics among its clients.

In the past few years, many Chinese phone subscribers have switched from lower phone models to smartphones. This was after prices became more affordable for consumers.

Spreadtrum increased its revenue estimates last week. For the second quarter, it was raised from US$50 million to US$270-US$278 million. In the premarket trading, Spreadtrum shares increased 21% to US$27.