TiVo, Motorola / Google settle DVR patent lawsuit (update: Cisco, Time Warner too, for $490 million)
TiVo's patent lawsuit against Motorola (formerly owned by Google, then sold to set-top box maker Arris) had been scheduled to start June 10th, but now it's reported the parties have reached a settlement. There are no details available and representatives for the companies involved had no comment at this time. TiVo has successfully leveraged its "Time Warp" patent, along with others, to negotiate settlements with the likes of AT&T, Dish Network and Verizon. For Arris, protection guaranteeing it would only be responsible for up to $50 million in the case of a loss to TiVo -- which some analysts suggested could result in a payout of close to $1 billion -- came as part of its deal to acquire Motorola. The lawyers will remain busy however, as TiVo still has litigation pending against Time Warner Cable and Cisco.
Update: Motorola responded "We're pleased that all parties involved have reached an agreement to resolve pending litigation."
Update (June 7th): TiVo has officially announced the settlement in a detailed press release, revealing that this also includes Time Warner Cable and Cisco. As a result, it will receive a $490 million lump sum payment from Cisco and Google as the various companies agree to dismiss all pending litigation between them.
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TiVo Announces Settlement of Patent Litigation and Doubling of Stock Repurchase Authorization
Settles Patent Litigation With Cisco, Motorola and Time Warner Cable for $490 Million
Brings Aggregate Awards and Settlements From Intellectual Property Actions to Roughly $1.6 Billion
Increases Stock Repurchase Authorization to $200 Million With Plans to Increase Size of Current 10b5-1 Plan
SAN JOSE, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 06/07/13 -- TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) announced today that it has settled its pending patent litigation with Motorola (now owned by Google and Arris), Cisco and Time Warner Cable and that TiVo has agreed to enter into certain patent licensing arrangements with Arris, Cisco, and Google. As part of the settlement, Google and Cisco will pay TiVo an upfront lump-sum payment of $490 million, bringing the total from awards and settlements related to the use of certain TiVo intellectual property to roughly $1.6 billion.
In conjunction with approving the terms of the settlement, TiVo's board of directors also approved a major expansion of TiVo's stock repurchase authorization. The board's action doubles the size of the authorization from $100 million to $200 million and extends the stock repurchase plan for an additional two years until August 29, 2015. Additionally, TiVo intends to increase the size of its 10b5-1 trading plan significantly as a result. This will allow TiVo to build on the almost $57 million worth of equity acquired through open market purchases and from tax withholdings on employee restricted share vesting since the time the board of directors first authorized the $100 million stock repurchase plan. This increased and extended repurchase authorization means TiVo will have over $160 million of unused stock repurchase authorization.
"We are pleased to reach an agreement that brings our pending litigation to an end and further underscores the significant value our distribution partners derive from TiVo's technological innovations and our shareholders derive from our investments in protecting TiVo's intellectual property," said Tom Rogers, CEO and President of TiVo. "Further, this settlement significantly enhances our already strong balance sheet, bringing our cash position to over $1 billion before inclusion of future expected payments of at least $400 million from prior settlements. We intend to use our significant capital resources to drive shareholder value, including more aggressively returning capital to shareholders under our newly increased share repurchase authorization and we will be increasing the size of our 10B5-1 trading plan as soon as permissible."
Mr. Rogers added, "Importantly, we just recently closed one of our best quarters ever in terms of subscription growth, driven by a number of our existing operator deals in the U.S. and abroad that are now fully up and running. As a result, we delivered our highest gross margin ever and solid MSO revenue growth of 98% year-over-year, and we expect this MSO revenue growth will continue as we roll out additional deployments. So, as we look out beyond today's important settlement we believe our core operating business will continue to drive growth to both the top and bottom line."
As part of the settlement, TiVo and Motorola, Cisco, and Time Warner Cable agreed to dismiss all pending litigation between the companies. TiVo will recognize a portion of the payment as past damages during the second quarter and the remainder over time. The company intends to provide additional details regarding the timing of revenue recognition in its second quarter fiscal year 2014 earnings report. Further, as a result of this settlement, TiVo expects net income and Adjusted EBITDA to benefit from lower litigation spend in the remainder of its fiscal year ending January 31, 2014 and beyond.
