Reuters reckons US networking vendor CommScope is seriously courting UK cable and set top box company Arris.

Scott Bicheno

October 25, 2018

1 Min Read
M&A

Reuters reckons US networking vendor CommScope is seriously courting UK cable and set top box company Arris.

The report, which cites those shadowy ‘people familiar with the matter’ that are so often responsible for such leaks, just claims the two companies are in talks for CommScope to acquire Arris. The exponentially-growing public demand for streaming video is apparently one of the big drivers behind the talks.

The market values of the two companies aren’t too far apart, but a big reason for this was CommScope’s share price going down the toilet when it announced its Q1 2018 numbers. Specifically forward guidance that indicating a degree of commoditisation in its core markets seemed to spook investors and it could well be that a good old bit of M&A might be just what they need to cheer them up.

Arris is no stranger to M&A of late, having grabbed Ruckus from Broadcom at the end of last year. There seems to be a bit of an accelerated trend towards consolidation among tier 2 kit vendors, apparently catalysed by fear of commoditisation. Light Reading has further analysis of the pros and cons of the potential move here.

About the Author(s)

Scott Bicheno

As the Editorial Director of Telecoms.com, Scott oversees all editorial activity on the site and also manages the Telecoms.com Intelligence arm, which focuses on analysis and bespoke content.
Scott has been covering the mobile phone and broader technology industries for over ten years. Prior to Telecoms.com Scott was the primary smartphone specialist at industry analyst Strategy Analytics’. Before that Scott was a technology journalist, covering the PC and telecoms sectors from a business perspective.
Follow him @scottbicheno

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