Pace to merge units in wake of lower performance
UK-based set-top box manufacturer Pace has revealed that it is planning to merge Pace Europe with Pace Enterprise to form Pace International.
The new unit will cover all regions, apart from Americas, which already has its own division.
The…
UK-based set-top box manufacturer Pace has revealed that it is planning to merge Pace Europe with Pace Enterprise to form Pace International.
The new unit will cover all regions, apart from Americas, which already has its own division.
The announcement, which was made during the company’s interim management statement, comes as Pace Europe posted revenues down to US$429.5m in the first half of 2011, compared with US$463.2m for the same period in 2010.
In comparison, Pace Enterprise, a recently-created division aimed at opening up new markets, reported revenues of US$27.1m up from US$7.2m in H1 2010.
Stuart Hall, the company’s CFO, said that following the consultation process, scheduled to be completed before the end of H1 2012, the restructuration is expected to generate annualized savings of US$7m.
Pace will, however, incur a corresponding exceptional charge of US$12m in 2011.
Overall, the company expects revenues of US$2.3bn, and an operating profit of US$141m in 2011. Its net debt will be around US$320-US$330m.
About a year ago, Pace acquired Latens Systems, the Irish pay-TV conditional access specialist, for £28.75m through existing cash resources. The company said, at the time, that it was planning to use Latens’ portfolio of software assets to help create convergence products for the global pay-TV market.
Before that, Pace had secured a US$450m financing package to support its US$475m acquisition of US broadband services provider 2Wire in July 2010.
The transaction was aimed at allowing Pace to expand beyond its core cable and satellite markets and into the telco sector. 2Wire has already established relationships with a number of large US carriers including AT&T.
