Apple continues to expand its reach in the tech industry as it acquires the majority of Intel’s smartphone modem trade.

The tech giant will welcome over 2,000 employees from Intel and will receive intellectual property, leases, and equipment. The USD1 Billion transaction will be finalized in the fourth quarter of this year.

Intel CEO Bob Swan says the deal will be beneficial in their efforts to develop technology for the 5G mobile network. “This agreement enables us to focus on developing technology for the 5G network while retaining critical intellectual property and modem technology that our team has created,” the CEO said in a statement to Apple Newsroom.

Swan adds, “We have long respected Apple and we’re confident they provide the right environment for this talented team and these important assets moving forward. We’re looking forward to putting our full effort into 5G where it most closely aligns with the needs of our global customer base, including network operators, telecommunications equipment manufacturers and cloud service providers.”

Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies Johny Srouji expressed his full confidence in the business merger. “We’ve worked with Intel for many years and know this team shares Apple’s passion for designing technologies that deliver the world’s best experiences for our users,” he said.

“Apple is excited to have so many excellent engineers join our growing cellular technologies group, and know they’ll thrive in Apple’s creative and dynamic environment. They, together with our significant acquisition of innovative IP, will help expedite our development on future products and allow Apple to further differentiate moving forward,” continued Srouji.