DailyTech - Broadcom to Acquire AMD DTV Business

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Hardware Broadcom to Acquire AMD DTV Business
Shane McGlaun (Blog) - August 26, 2008 12:21 PM

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14 comment(s) - last by crystal clear.. on Aug 27 at 8:37 AM

Deal subject to shareholder approval in both camps

AMD and Broadcom have entered into an agreement that would net Broadcom AMD's Digital TV business. The deal will cost Broadcom $192.8 million in cash. Broadcom says that the acquisition still needs to get AMD shareholder approval and it hopes that the deal will be complete in Q4 2008.

For its $192 million, Broadcom will get AMD's full DTV product line including the Xilleon integrated DTV processor, complete turnkey reference designs, NXT receiver ICs, and the Theater 300 DTV processor. Broadcom will also get other processors that improve video playback performance with motion compensation, frame rate conversion, and scaling.

DTV processors and other intellectual property are not all the acquisition will get Broadcom. Broadcom will also be inviting all 530 of the AMD dedicated DTV personnel to join it as well as key managers and marketing personnel for AMD's DTV business.

The 530 current AMD employees are located in six design centers around the world. Broadcom says that the acquisition of AMD's DTV business will allow it to immediately scale its DTV business and expand its tier one customer base. Broadcom also says that the acquisition will give it a complete DTV lineup covering DTV from low-end to high-end.

Until the acquisition is approved by AMD shareholders, Broadcom will place a portion of the $192.8 million into an escrow account. Broadcom says that the acquisition still needs to be approved by its shareholders as well.

AMD CEO Dirk Meyer said in a statement, "AMD is executing a strategic plan to transform the company, becoming leaner and more focused while seeking to create a business model to deliver sustainable profitability. The sale of our DTV business is a key step in AMD’s transformation, helping to strengthen our balance sheet, lower our breakeven point, and hone our focus in order to take full advantage of our position as a leader in both microprocessors and graphics technology. Broadcom will be a great fit for our talented DTV employees and the DTV products they have created."

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IE, we need the money

By lifeblood on 8/26/2008 12:32:04 PM , Rating: 2

AMD has to sell something in order to start compensating for the money they are hemorrhaging. Hopefully this is a profitable sale for both AMD and Broadcom. Hopefully the employees won't get shafted, although I'm sure some will. They always do.

RE: IE, we need the money

By Mitch101 on 8/26/2008 12:58:39 PM , Rating: 4

Its probably most profitable that 530 employees wont be on AMD's payroll.

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RE: IE, we need the money

By psychobriggsy on 8/26/2008 1:04:12 PM , Rating: 5

What's that? About $15m a quarter? The unit is losing a lot more than that for AMD at the moment.

(The real WTF part of the article is that Broadcom want AMD marketing personnel....)

It's a good move, they get a nice cash sum (that is a sizable portion of their market cap) and reduce their losses by around $50m a quarter. Also time can be spent concentrating on AMD's core products.

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what the crystal ball says

By vapore0n on 8/26/2008 12:34:53 PM , Rating: 2

I wonder what Broadcom plans to use the ATI/AMD TV tech.
Currently the only real product AMD has is the DTV tunner, which is tied to OCCUR and all their copy protection crap.
(Buy new PC, else you cant play in our playground)

Their ATSC and NTSC tunners are not that great anymore. And QAM tunner lol, Comcast is killing that one slowly.

RE: what the crystal ball says

By Penti on 8/26/2008 2:06:43 PM , Rating: 2

Well I guess they has to have some set-top box and IDTV customers that uses there solutions. So my guess is they just continue to serve does customers.

It's not about there PC HDTV/TV tuners, all though they will get those too, (the chips that power those actually) but they might discontinue stuff like ATis cablecard products. I have a hard time imagining Broadcom releasing ready consumer products them selfs. Which is why that we might will continue to see products like the cablecard tuner from ATi/AMD.

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RE: what the crystal ball says

By FITCamaro on 8/26/2008 5:24:33 PM , Rating: 3

THE I R!

My god man.

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Verify your facts....

By crystal clear on 8/26/2008 1:20:44 PM , Rating: 4

quote:
Until the acquisition is approved by AMD shareholders, Broadcom will place a portion of the $192.8 million into an escrow account. Broadcom says that the acquisition still needs to be approved by its shareholders as well.

Wrong - Read the press release to get the facts very crystal clear-

In connection with the acquisition, Broadcom will pay approximately $192.8 million in cash in exchange for AMD’s DTV assets. A portion of the consideration payable to AMD will be placed into escrow pursuant to the terms of the definitive asset purchase agreement. The board of directors of each company has approved the transaction and shareholder/stockholder approval of the transaction is not required by either company. The closing, which is targeted to occur during Broadcom’s fourth quarter ending December 31, 2008, remains subject to customary closing conditions and review by relevant regulatory organizations. Broadcom may record a one-time charge for purchased in-process research and development expenses related to the acquisition in the quarter in which the transaction closes. The amount of that charge, if any, has not yet been determined.

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Corporate/VirtualPressRoo...

RE: Verify your facts....

By crystal clear on 8/27/2008 8:37:24 AM , Rating: 2

If this a repeat post then regret the error-

AMD Phenom FX Deneb core

There's said to be two chips in the pipeline, the FX-80 at 4Ghz and the FX-82 at 4.4GHz.
The FX-80 at stock out performs a 5.0GHz Kentsfield.

The Deneb core apparently has
a multiplyer of up to 25x!

This image was spotted on a UK computer shop website, maybe a hint of the arrival of the Phenom FX?

http://reviewage.co.uk/content/view/33/1/

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Damn shame!

By SunAngel on 8/26/08, Rating: -1

RE: Damn shame!

By lifeblood on 8/26/2008 1:17:35 PM , Rating: 3

Your post is so off base that I find myself at a loss to even try to refute it. Suffice it to say AMD sees a market beyond the dumb pimply faced loser you refer to.

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RE: Damn shame!

By Pezman37 on 8/26/2008 2:01:53 PM , Rating: 2

They seem to be the ranting dumb pimply faced loser they mock.

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RE: Damn shame!

By Zoomer on 8/26/2008 10:15:09 PM , Rating: 1

Actually, they wanted their IGPs. :p

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RE: Damn shame!

By Omega215D on 8/27/2008 2:46:13 AM , Rating: 2

Seems to me ATi's Radeon HD 4850 and 4870 cards are making AMD quite a bit of cash right now thanks to a great price : performance ratio. Not to mention that HD video is the future and it looks as if ATi's offerings are much better than those from nVidia.

Besides both the Core 2 and Phenom are good performing processors for normal tasks and even for moderate multimedia tasks. It is the pimply faced gamer that declares the Core 2 the winner because it outperforms AMD in gaming along with the tasks mentioned above.

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