Arris agrees US$172 million BigBand acquisition

Cable technology group Arris is set to acquire video networking specialist BigBand Networks.

Arris has agreed to acquire BigBand for US$2.24 (€1.64) per share in cash. This equates to a diluted equity value of approximately $172 million.

The acquisition will extend Arris’s capabilities in the processing, management and distribution of digital video content. The company said it would increase opportunities in several fast growing product areas, including the Converged Cable Access Platform (CCAP) architecture defined by CableLabs, local and targeted advertising, IP video distribution and advanced video processing and compression.

“We are both enthusiastic and optimistic about the BigBand acquisition because it builds on our stated business strategy of growing our current businesses into a more complete portfolio including a strong video product suite and investing in the evolution towards network convergence onto an all IP platform,” said Bob Stanzione, Arris chairman and CEO.  “In addition, the acquisition offers new opportunities to expand our customer base worldwide. We are delighted to welcome the BigBand employees to Arris.”