0
Telecommunications equipment maker CommScope is buying set-top box maker ARRIS for $7.4 billion in cash, the companies announced Thursday. Private equity firm The Carlyle Group is partially funding the deal via a $1 billion minority equity investment in CommScope, which has a market cap of about $4.8 billion.
Georgia-based ARRIS has a presence in the cable wireline broadband space and a significant chunk of its revenue comes from its pay TV set-top business. The company bulked up by buying Motorola Mobility’s home unit from Google in 2012 and Pace, a U.K.-based set-top box manufacturer, in 2015. In 2017, ARRIS acquired Ruckus Wireless from Broadcom.
CommScope has evolved from one of the world’s largest providers of coaxial cable for businesses and telephone companies to a broad manufacturer of telecom gear.
Combined, CommScope and ARRIS are hoping to capture market share in the burgeoning 5G, fiber and Internet of things markets, as well as other high-growth areas like private networks and connected homes. The companies expect to have combined revenue of approximately $11.3 billion and adjusted EBITDA of approximately $1.8 billion.
“For several years, we have watched quite closely as Ruckus has grown to become a strong leader in the market,” said CommScope CEO Eddie Edwards, on a conference call with analysts. “The Ruckus team will be a critical and highly complementary addition to CommScope.”
He continued:
“Our highly complementary offering, footprints, and customer relationships provide significant diversification and the transaction strengthens our positioning in the segments with the highest growth potential. The new spectrum being planned for 5G around the world being near, and now we expect a greater amount of wireless connectivity infrastructure to be needed indoors utilizing both licensed and unlicensed technologies, which the combined company will now have.”
PREVIOUS AND RELATED COVERAGE:
Verizon reorganizes into 3 groups to leverage 5G
Verizon will have three units–consumer, business and media–and the business division may see the most growth due to telematics, IoT, edge computing and 5G enterprise applications.
Sprint deploys gigabit LTE in 225 cities
Ahead of its 5G launch in nine areas in 2019 and its proposed merger with T-Mobile, Sprint has deployed gigabit-speed LTE in 225 cities across the US.
IBM partners with Seagate to put hard drives on the blockchain
The companies are aiming to build a system that addresses counterfeit hard drives and helps ensure hard drive compliance and security.
Related Topics:
Digital Transformation
Big Data Analytics
CXO
Innovation
Cloud
0