Tandberg TV, Arris combine in $1.2 billion deal

Tandberg Television and Arris are the latest to join the merger madness, combining into one company following the purchase of all outstanding Tandberg Television shares by Arris. Arris can increase the cash portion of the offer at its discretion but the aggregate purchase is expected to be $1.214 billion at current exchange rates.

The transaction is expected to be completed in Q2 2007 and is subject to regulatory and other customary approvals, as well as, to Arris receiving valid and unconditional acceptances of the offer from shareholders representing more than 90% of the shares.

“The on-going industry consolidation amongst our key customer base creates a demand for companies that can offer an increasing scale and scope of supply on a global basis,” says Jan Christian Opsahl, Chairman of Tandberg Television. “The combination of Arris and Tandberg Television clearly creates that market leading supplier of voice, video and data solutions. Further, offer price represents a substantial premium of 47% to Tandberg Television’s 90 trading day average share price.”

Arris is a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of cable
telephony, video and high-speed data equipment, as well as outside
plant construction and maintenance equipment for cable system
operators. With 750 employees in offices across North America, Latin
America, Europe and Asia Pacific, Arris is headquartered in Atlanta,
Georgia. Arris delivered revenues through nine months of 2006 of
approximately $657 million and recently announced that it would exceed
previous revenue guidance.
Combining the resources and experience of Arris and TandbergTelevision will produce a new company, unique in its ability to enable voice, video and data over any network and to any device. Arris is a leading global provider of VoIP, (voice over IP) data broadband network equipment and consumer premises devices; Tandberg Television leads the digital video sector with more than 25% share of the global video processing market and award-winning solutions for advanced compression, on-demand and interactive television.

Arris and Tandberg Television have a strong shared philosophy of innovation and track-records of profitable growth. The new company will have a significant global presence with over 1600 employees and 2,000+ customers in more than 100 countries. Arris strong North American cable business and strategic customers in key international markets will be significantly expanded through Tandberg Television’s international market leadership position in IPTV, HDTV and on-demand television.

“The combination of Arris and Tandberg Television is positive for the digital media industry and a truly exceptional opportunity for both companies. By bringing together these two market leaders we are able to expand on our vision to be the global leader in the provision of digital IP infrastructure and to enable voice, video and data to be delivered over integrated broadband networks from the content provider to the head-end to the home,” says Bob Stanzione, Chairman & CEO of ARRIS. “With this merger we are creating a new force, with best in class technologies and an outstanding team of people with a unique understanding of all service provider networks, the technologies that enable them and the content that travels through them.”

As cable operators, telcos and pay-TV providers compete for the subscriber, the triple play of voice, data and video, and the eventual quad play with mobile, is driving increased bandwidth needs. Additionally, as new services such as VoIP and high definition, on-demand TV emerge, the pressure on bandwidth increases further, pushing data speed requirements over 100Mbps. These macro-trends underpin the combination of Arris and Tandberg Television and will drive the future success and growth of the new company and its highly scalable, revenue producing technologies for high speed data, VoIP, IPTV, HDTV and on-demand television.

“Our customers are increasingly relying on next generation technologies to help them create and distribute converged and differentiated voice, data and video services. There is a clear benefit in being able to source these solutions from one trusted partner. The combined Arris and Tandberg Television is ideally placed to provide the technologies, the knowledge and the systems delivery and integration expertise that our customers around the world can rely on to build profitable digital businesses,” said Eric Cooney, CEO of Tandberg Television.