File photo shows a Samsung Electronics logo in Seoul, South Korea. Samsung said Tuesday it had signed a deal to buy a mobile technology unit belonging to British firm Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR) in a bid to improve its handheld devices.

South Korea's Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it had signed a deal to buy a mobile technology unit belonging to British firm Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR) in a bid to improve its handheld devices.

Under the deal signed Monday, Samsung will buy CSR's facility which develops and location technologies -- used in devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs -- by the end of this year, for $310 million.

Samsung, the world's largest maker of smartphones, will also take over related patents held by the British firm and 300 workers at the unit, it said in a statement.

It also said it would buy CSR shares worth $34 million to boost ties with the British firm, one of the global leaders in Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and technologies.

"The deal will enable both companies to better align their current development efforts and future product roadmaps, while accelerating their time-to-market for rapidly evolving demands within the market," Samsung said.

"This transaction will accelerate our transformation into a more competitive platform company operating in attractive growth markets where we have a leading market position," Joep van Beurden, CEO of CSR, said.

The South Korean firm, which is battling with Apple's iPhone and for supremacy in the lucrative smartphone and , has seen heavy demand for its new Galaxy SIII phone, which was introduced in May.

The technology giant also bought in June Nanoradio, a Swedish company that develops energy-efficient chipsets for Wi-Fi services in smartphones and other mobile devices.

(c) 2012 AFP