Pace sold to American giant for £1.4bn
TECHNOLOGY group Pace is to be sold to US-based Arris Group in a deal worth £1.4bn.
The Saltaire-based business, which was founded in 1982, last month reported pre-tax profits of £114m for 2014 on the back of revenuess of £1.70bn.
Pace’s chairman Allan Leighton will tell the company’s AGM later today that the board is recommending a cash-and-shares deal that will see shareholders receive 132.5p in cash and 0.1455 new Arris shares for each Pace share.
He will say: “While the board believes that Pace is strongly positioned to continue to execute its strategy in the medium and long term, we also believe that the proposed transaction substantially recognises that potential as well as giving our shareholders the opportunity to share in the future success of the combined group.
“The combination of the complementary Arris and Pace businesses will create a platform for future growth above and beyond our standalone potential. We believe this is a great fit for both companies, our employees, customers and trading partners.”
The deal values Pace’s shares at 426.5p, based on Arris’s closing share price on April 21 of US$30.16, which is a premium of 27.6% on Pace’s closing price of 334.2p.
The combined business will turnover around £5.3bn and will employ over 8,500 people in more than 15 countries.
The merged business expects its greater size to enable it to meet its customers’ needs better while generating “compelling financial benefits”, from savings in back-office infrastructure and synergies in procurement, as well as the removal of Pace’s public company costs.
Mr Leighton will also update Pace’s shareholders with details of the company’s “good start” to the year.
He will say: “In line with our expectations, revenue in the period was higher than the same period in 2014 and forecast demand across all markets and product segments Pace operates in is building as the year progresses. As previously communicated, revenue will be stronger in H2 2015 than H1 2015, similar to 2014.”
