Motorola Looking to Sell STB Division
November 2009
Motorola made a series of announcements in November, mostly around the TelcoTV conference. The biggest news is that Motorola is reportedly looking to sell off its set-top box and networking equipment division. Apparently, some unnamed companies approached Motorola inquiring about its Home & Networks Mobility business unit.
Motorola hired investment banking firms Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase to advise them on a possible sale. In 2009, the Home & Networks Mobility business earned US$467 million during the first nine months of 2009, with US$6 billion in total revenue. Apparently, the division is valued at about US$3 to US$5 billion.
Clearly, owning Motorola’s set-top and networking business would be a huge win for any company. Motorola is already a major player in the Cable, and IPTV set-top market (along with Cisco), so any buyer will grab a huge chunk of the market.
Source: MRG, Inc., November 2009 IPTV Bulletin
Telefónica Acquired Telecom Italia's German Broadband Operator Hansenet
November 2009
Telefónica acquired Telecom Italia’s German Broadband Operator Hansenet for €900 million (US$1.35 billion). The acquisition will make Telefónica the number 3 company in the German market in terms of revenue, with combined annual sales of almost €5 billion (US$7.5 billion). Telefónica O2 already has 15 million Mobile customers and 200,000 DSL subscribers in Germany.
Source: MRG, Inc., November 2009 IPTV Bulletin
Motorola Announced it was Acquiring BitBand
November 2009
Motorola announced it was acquiring BitBand, a VOD IPTV Provider for an undisclosed sum. The transaction is expected to close in Q4/2009. BitBand will be integrated into Motorola’s Home & Networks Mobility business, which already includes its various other IPTV systems. BitBand is based in Netanya, Israel, and has over 60 commercial IPTV deployments around the world including including Tele2 (Holland), FASTWEB (Italy), and Swyazinvest (Russia). Motorola said the acquisition of BitBand will complement its existing on-demand product line, with its expertise in IPTV solutions, as well as solutions for Content Delivery Networks (CDN) and Over-the-Top video services.
Source: MRG, Inc., November 2009 IPTV Bulletin
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