ARRIS Officially Acquires Motorola Home From Google
ARRIS has officially, and finally, acquired Motorola Home from Google. Just a few days ago, the U.S. Department of Justice approved ARRIS's acquisition of the business from Google. The deal totaled $2.35 billion, with ARRIS paying Google $2.2 billion in cash, and giving it the other $150 million in shares. ARRIS expects the Motorola Home broadband unit to triple its sales, and help it advance its technology even further.
Previously, ARRIS was expected to give Google $300 million worth of its shares, giving the company a 15.7% share of the company. However, ARRIS decided to split the $300 million shares in half, giving Google one half of the shares, while giving Comcast the other half. Both companies will have 10.6 million shares of ARRIS's common stock, giving both companies an equal 7.85% share in the company.
With the acquisition of Motorola Home, 7,000 Motorola Home employees will transfer on over to ARRIS. ARRIS's management team will be led from the top executives from both companies. With their combined efforts, they hope to expand their customer base, and develop innovative new technology. The acquisition will provide ARRIS with Motorola Home's 2,000 patents, and will allow the company to sell new equipment "to customers whose cable-TV sets don't support internet-video delivery."
This deal is a win-win for both ARRIS and Google. Google acquired Motorola Home in a packaged deal when it purchased Motorola Mobility. It only wanted the mobile patents from the deal, not the set-top box business. Now Google can let go of Motorola Home and focus entirely on its mobile division, while ARRIS now has more resources to advance farther in the video delivery and broadband techology industry. Bob Stanzione, Chairman and CEO of ARRIS, says
"This acquisition creates a global player in video delivery and broadband technology. We are combining the industry's top experts and technologies to create a powerful solution for the entire multiscreen delivery chain – from network infrastructure, to transport, to user experience. The new ARRIS has the expertise to transform the industry."
[via ARRIS]