Comcast to Plow $150M Into Arris

Comcast Corp. will end up with an almost 8 percent stake in Arris Group Inc. once the vendor successfully completes its US$2.35 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility LLC's Home unit from Google.

The agreement, announced Monday, calls for Arris to sell 10.6 million shares of its common stock, valued at $150 million, to Comcast. The deal will reduce the number of shares Arris was originally slated to issue to Google while increasing the cash paid to Google by $150 million.

If the deal gets done, Comcast and Google will each own about 7.85 percent of the outstanding Arris shares upon the closing of the transaction based on Arris's current capitalization. Under the original deal, comprising $2.05 billion in cash and $300 million in newly issued Arris stock, Google was to get a 15.7 percent interest in Arris. Google and Arris expect their agreement to close by April.

Why this matters
The investment, though immaterial to Comcast, indicates the strategic importance the operator is placing on one of its largest suppliers of set-tops and other broadband equipment. The deal also puts Comcast and Google on equal footing at the combined company when Arris completes its acquisition of Motorola Home.

For more

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Light Reading Cable