Pace buys US broadband company 2Wire

Pace has agreed to buy US broadband technology firm 2Wire for $475m (£306.6m) to broaden its customer base beyond cable and satellite into the Internet TV market.
By The Newsroom
Published 26th Jul 2010, 10:30 BST
Updated 27th Jul 2010, 11:45 BST

The Saltaire firm company, which overtook Motorola to become the world's largest set-top box maker in May, said 2Wire had an established relationship with tier-one North American telecoms providers including AT&T, and the deal would catapult it to number three in the global telecommunications home-hub market.

Neil Gaydon, chief executive of Pace, said: "We have built a strong position in the US with cable and satellite operators and 2Wire, with its expertise in the broadband residential gateway market, will enable us to address a full range of US operator requirements."

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2Wire is owned by a consortium including Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T, Telmex and Oak Investment Partners.

Yorkshire-based Pace, which makes set-top boxes for BSkyB, Canal+, and Comcast, also today reported a 46 per cent rise in first-half pretax profit, and said it was close to achieving its 8 per cent operating-margin target.

The company posted pretax profit of 45.4m on 21 per cent higher revenue of 635.2m in the six months to end-June.

It said given its strong market position and ongoing demand for digital television, it should deliver mid-single digit revenue growth over the medium term.

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