UK chip designer Imagination bought by Chinese firm

[cirr]

UK chip designer Imagination bought by Chinese firm

9 hours ago

Image copyright REUTERS
Apple uses Imagination's technology in its iPhones

UK technology firm Imagination, which designs graphics chips for smartphones, is being bought for £550m by a Chinese-backed investment firm.

Imagination put itself up for sale in June after Apple, its largest customer, said it would stop using its products.

The boss of Imagination, Andrew Heath, said the takeover by China-backed Canyon Bridge was a "very good outcome" and would ensure it remained in the UK.

It becomes the latest UK chip designer to be bought by a foreign investor.

Last year, ARM, which designs microchip technology used in Apple and Samsung smartphones, was bought by Japan's Softbank for £24bn.

Canyon Bridge recently raised $1.5bn (£1.1bn) from Chinese investors and has offices in Beijing and San Francisco.

'British innovation'

The firm said it currently has no plans to cut jobs at Hertfordshire-based Imagination after the takeover.

Ray Bingham, a partner at Canyon Bridge, said: "We are investing in UK talent and expertise in order to accelerate the expansion of Imagination, particularly into Asia, where its technology platform will lead the continued globalisation of British-developed innovation."

Imagination saw its shares halve in value when Apple said in April that it would end a deal to use its products.

The two firms are still engaged in a dispute over the move - with Imagination questioning Apple's "assertions" that it would be able to develop its own computer chip designs without breaching Imagination's intellectual property rights.

Apple's royalty payments for the chip technology, used in its iPhones, iPads and iPods, accounted for about half of Imagination's revenues.

Image copyright GETTY IMAGES
The Trump administration blocked Canyon Bridge's attempts to buy a US tech firm

Mr Heath said: "Imagination has made excellent progress both operationally and financially over the last 18 months until Apple's unsubstantiated assertions and the subsequent dispute forced us to change course.

"The acquisition will ensure that Imagination - with its strong growth prospects - remains an independent IP licensing business, based in the UK, but operating around the world."

It is not Canyon Bridge's first deal for a Western tech company.

The firm is seeking approval for a $1.3bn deal to buy US chipmaker Lattice Semiconductor.

Last week, the Trump administration barred the sale of Lattice to the Chinese-backed company, citing national security risks.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-41369376

 

[Adam WANG SHANGHAI MEGA]

UK chip designer Imagination bought by Chinese firm

• 22 September 2017
  
• From the sectionBusiness

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Image copyrightREUTERS
Image captionApple uses Imagination's technology in its iPhones
UK technology firm Imagination, which designs graphics chips for smartphones, is being bought for £550m by a Chinese-backed investment firm.

Imagination put itself up for sale in June after Apple, its largest customer, said it would stop using its products.

The boss of Imagination, Andrew Heath, said the takeover by China-backed Canyon Bridge was a "very good outcome" and would ensure it remained in the UK.

It becomes the latest UK chip designer to be bought by a foreign investor.

Last year, ARM, which designs microchip technology used in Apple and Samsung smartphones, was bought by Japan's Softbank for £24bn.

Canyon Bridge recently raised $1.5bn (£1.1bn) from Chinese investors and has offices in Beijing and San Francisco.

'British innovation'
The firm said it currently has no plans to cut jobs at Hertfordshire-based Imagination after the takeover.

Ray Bingham, a partner at Canyon Bridge, said: "We are investing in UK talent and expertise in order to accelerate the expansion of Imagination, particularly into Asia, where its technology platform will lead the continued globalisation of British-developed innovation."

Imagination saw its shares halve in value when Apple said in April that it would end a deal to use its products.

The two firms are still engaged in a dispute over the move - with Imagination questioning Apple's "assertions" that it would be able to develop its own computer chip designs without breaching Imagination's intellectual property rights.

Apple's royalty payments for the chip technology, used in its iPhones, iPads and iPods, accounted for about half of Imagination's revenues.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionThe Trump administration blocked Canyon Bridge's attempts to buy a US tech firm
Mr Heath said: "Imagination has made excellent progress both operationally and financially over the last 18 months until Apple's unsubstantiated assertions and the subsequent dispute forced us to change course.

"The acquisition will ensure that Imagination - with its strong growth prospects - remains an independent IP licensing business, based in the UK, but operating around the world."

It is not Canyon Bridge's first deal for a Western tech company.

The firm is seeking approval for a $1.3bn deal to buy US chipmaker Lattice Semiconductor.

Last week, the Trump administration barred the sale of Lattice to the Chinese-backed company, citing national security risks.


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[qwerrty]

they shouldn't buy it. without apple this company is nothing. the arm mali gpu is getting better and better. samsung is using adreno. huawei reported to be developing its own gpu core. xiaomi will do the same too. i see no future for this company.

 

[Pyr0test]

. i see no future for this company

Even if the company had no future, the patents alone could make it a sweet deal. I remembered their real time ray tracing tech is pretty awsome. one sad thing is Imagination went to a investment fund instead of a proper tech company

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

UK chip designer Imagination bought by Chinese firm

9 hours ago

Image copyright REUTERS
Apple uses Imagination's technology in its iPhones

UK technology firm Imagination, which designs graphics chips for smartphones, is being bought for £550m by a Chinese-backed investment firm.

Imagination put itself up for sale in June after Apple, its largest customer, said it would stop using its products.

The boss of Imagination, Andrew Heath, said the takeover by China-backed Canyon Bridge was a "very good outcome" and would ensure it remained in the UK.

It becomes the latest UK chip designer to be bought by a foreign investor.

Last year, ARM, which designs microchip technology used in Apple and Samsung smartphones, was bought by Japan's Softbank for £24bn.

Canyon Bridge recently raised $1.5bn (£1.1bn) from Chinese investors and has offices in Beijing and San Francisco.

'British innovation'

The firm said it currently has no plans to cut jobs at Hertfordshire-based Imagination after the takeover.

Ray Bingham, a partner at Canyon Bridge, said: "We are investing in UK talent and expertise in order to accelerate the expansion of Imagination, particularly into Asia, where its technology platform will lead the continued globalisation of British-developed innovation."

Imagination saw its shares halve in value when Apple said in April that it would end a deal to use its products.

The two firms are still engaged in a dispute over the move - with Imagination questioning Apple's "assertions" that it would be able to develop its own computer chip designs without breaching Imagination's intellectual property rights.

Apple's royalty payments for the chip technology, used in its iPhones, iPads and iPods, accounted for about half of Imagination's revenues.

Image copyright GETTY IMAGES
The Trump administration blocked Canyon Bridge's attempts to buy a US tech firm

Mr Heath said: "Imagination has made excellent progress both operationally and financially over the last 18 months until Apple's unsubstantiated assertions and the subsequent dispute forced us to change course.

"The acquisition will ensure that Imagination - with its strong growth prospects - remains an independent IP licensing business, based in the UK, but operating around the world."

It is not Canyon Bridge's first deal for a Western tech company.

The firm is seeking approval for a $1.3bn deal to buy US chipmaker Lattice Semiconductor.

Last week, the Trump administration barred the sale of Lattice to the Chinese-backed company, citing national security risks.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-41369376

This is the same company that had "bought" Lattice Semiconductors.

Until there is final approval of regulatory bodies everywhere (even in the US) nothing can be said.

Apart from that this firm as @qwerrty says is on a big downhill slope, since no body uses its graphics, nor seems to be planning to do that.

China should ideally have purchased ARM.

 

[Tang_BJ]

This is the same company that had "bought" Lattice Semiconductors.

Until there is final approval of regulatory bodies everywhere (even in the US) nothing can be said.

Apart from that this firm as @qwerrty says is on a big downhill slope, since no body uses its graphics, nor seems to be planning to do that.

China should ideally have purchased ARM.

most of important firms are not for sale, have no choice,china collected many legacy systems,do you still remember MeeGo? a small Chinese firm bought it and try to dig out some useful information from it.

 

[MultaniGuy]

Smart move by China.

Good job China.

 

[TaiShang]

Canyon Bridge acquires Imagination at $744 million
chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2017-09-25

The headquarters of technology company Imagination Technologies is seen on the outskirts of London on June 22, 2017. [Photo/VCG]


Canyon Bridge, a China-backed private equity firm, officially acquired British chip-making giant Imagination Technologies for about 550 million pounds ($744 million), the Financial Times reported Saturday.

The company's 182 pence-per-share offer on Friday, a 42 percent premium on the closing share price, is little more than a quarter of Imagination's 2012 price peak of 712.5 pence, which valued it at close to 2 billion pounds, according to the report.

Canyon Bridge's acquisition of Imagination excludes the company's US unit, MIPS, which is being bought by Tallwood Venture Capital, a Silicon Valley investment group, for $65 million, the report said.

The investment group pledged to continue to invest in Imagination's UK research and development capabilities and said it had "no plans" to cut staff or move the business to another country.

Canyon Bridge's investment strategy is not to take businesses to China but to make them more competitive there, offering access to the largest market in the world, the investment group said Friday.

The transaction is in line with Canyon Bridge's strategy of providing equity and capital enabling technology companies to reach their full growth potential. The purchase can accelerate Imagination's expansion into the Asian market, where its technology platform will lead the continued globalization of British-developed innovation, said Ray Bingham, a partner at Canyon Bridge.

Andrew Heath, Imagination's chief executive, considered the acquisition a good one, as it would ensure Imagination an independent IP licensing business with strong growth prospects.

In early September, Canyon Bridge, which is backed by State-owned Chinese fund Yitai Capital, saw its $1.3 billion attempt to acquire American chipmaker Lattice Semiconductor blocked by US President Donald Trump over national security concerns.

Canyon Bridge then turned to Imagination, one of the world's top three makers of mobile graphics processors and a leader in the semiconductor IP field, sharing the market with Qualcomm and ARM.

The Hertfordshire-based maker of mobile graphics processors put itself up for sale in June soon after breaking up with Apple, its largest customer and one of its biggest shareholders.