Pace confirms Google Motorola Home bid

Pace has confirmed that it has made a bid to acquire Motorola’s set-top box business from Google.

Last week, press reports linked the UK-based technology company with a bid for the set-top unit of Motorola. Pace released a statement saying that it has “submitted an indicative, non-binding, proposal to Google in respect of a potential acquisition of its Motorola Home business”. It added that discussions were at an early stage.
Google acquired Motorola for US$12.5 billion (€7.8 billion) in May and is looking to shift its set-top box arm, with insiders speculating that a deal could be worth up to US$2 billion. Other names linked to the deal include Arris and Technicolor.

The ordinary shares of Pace were suspended yesterday afternoon because the potential acquisition of Google’s Motorola Home business would be classified as a reverse takeover under the UK Listing Rules given its size relative to Pace.