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Arris closes deal to buy Motorola Home cable and internet biz from Google
About a year and a half after Google announced its acquisition of Motorola, it's closed a deal to sell the Motorola Home half to Arris. Motorola Home covers the company's cable TV and internet device, which combined with Arris' existing businesses creates what it's calling "the Premier Video Delivery and Broadband Technology Company." Meanwhile, Google keeps the Motorola Mobility half that covers its cellphones, tablets and of course, the related patents. The move cost Arris $2.2 billion in cash along with 10.6 million shares of its stock issued to Google. That's on top of 10.6 million shares for Comcast in return for its $150 million investment, making them equal part (7.7 percent) owners with the folks from Mountain View. What does all of this mean? Your next cable-provided box will probably say Arris on it, and any faint dream of Motorola-built Android TV set-top boxes becoming widely available is officially over.
Comcast invests $150 million in Arris as part of Motorola Home deal
Comcast now has some extra skin in the cable box and modem business, as the provider has just agreed to invest $150 million in Arris. If the name sounds familiar, it should -- this is the company that recently purchased Motorola Home from Google for $2.35 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Comcast will purchase roughly 7.85 percent of Arris, and in the very same stroke, halve Google's stake in the company, which previously sat at 15.7 percent. After the deal is complete, Google will end up with an additional $150 million in its pocket. As for what we can expect, Bob Stanzione, CEO of Arris, sounded off: "We believe this investment by one of our largest customers is a strong indication of customer support for the Motorola Home acquisition and its potential to accelerate innovation to the benefit of the industry and consumers." So, yeah... both companies will be working together more closely. For some additional insight behind the terms of the deal, you'll find the PR after the break.
Google sells Motorola Home cable and internet box business to Arris for $2.35 billion
Ever since Google announced it would acquire Motorola Mobility last year there have been questions about what it would do with the company's large internet and TV set-top box business, and now that question has been answered: it's selling Motorola Home to Arris for $2.35 billion in cash and stock. Another maker of cable boxes and modems, Arris says the acquisition will both increase its product offering, and increase its patent portfolio thanks to a license to "a wide array" of Motorola Mobility patents. The transaction has been approved by the boards of both companies, and they expect the deal to close in Q2 2013. The potential of slipping Android / Google TV into the cable box business through the back door was a tantalizing, but unfortunately probably not a dream shared by the operators that are Motorola's customers. Naturally, Google will be hanging onto the mobile device business and related patent library that spurred the $12.5 billion acquisition in the first place, but will own about 15.7 percent of Arris. We'll be hopping on a conference call to find out any more details in a moment, check out the press release after the break. Now, who holds the rights to that Motorola home automation tablet? Update: Listening to the call, Arris explains one of its reasons for the move is that until now, two (unnamed) customers comprised half of its business, but afterwards, five customers will make up half of its business. Also important is an included "low" cap that limits Arris' liability in the case of IP damages from lawsuits like the one currently ongoing with TiVo.
