TiVo agrees to $1.1 billion acquisition by Rovi

[Poke]

Another Buy out will be interesting to see what they do with Tivo..

Read More From the link below

http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/29/11535490/rovi-tivo-acquisition-1-1-billion

Digital entertainment company and patent hog Rovi has agreed to buy DVR-maker TiVo in a $1.1 billion deal. The acquisition was rumored yesterday and confirmed this morning by Rovi, which says it will adopt the "iconic TiVo brand" as the name for the new company. The deal will mostly be paid for in stock, with $277 million in cash making up the final price. Following the usual regulatory approvals, the acquisition is scheduled to go through in the third quarter this year.

 

[jayn_j]

 

[navychop]

So, gamblers, does this make their sale of the new model come May a good idea for buyers, or a bad waste of $400?

 

[osu1991]

I still think its a good buy, but I am worried about what happens to the quality of the guide data, when they switch from Gracenote to Rovi. Tivo's contract with Gracenote for guide data is up in mid may, and it appears the plan to switch to Rovi has been in the works.

Even with the repack, the current OTA ATSC signals will be around for more than a couple of years. The new Tivo company will still have to support the 7 million customers with boxes currently deployed to MVPD's along with the ones bought at retail.

 

[harshness]

...or will TiVo burn through Rovi's bank account like they burned through their own?

Of course much of the success of TiVo going forward is going to hinge on developing, selling, mandating and implementing a new universal access system for cable operators (and possibly satellite operators).

 

[Troch77]

...or will TiVo burn through Rovi's bank account like they burned through their own?

Of course much of the success of TiVo going forward is going to hinge on developing, selling, mandating and implementing a new universal access system for cable operators (and possibly satellite operators).

Tivo just spend 1.1B.
Their bank account is just fine.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Active

 

[mdavej]

So, gamblers, does this make their sale of the new model come May a good idea for buyers, or a bad waste of $400?

Tough call. That would pay for itself in a little over a year and a half, considering DVR fees. So the question is how long will it take Rovi to destroy Tivo. I say at least a year, but could be sooner. If I were OTA only, I'd go for a ChannelMaster at this point.

 

[harshness]

Tivo just spend 1.1B.

TiVo isn't spending anything. TiVo's shareholders will receive about 277M in cash and the rest in Rovi stock. TiVo's market cap is just under 1B.

It is anybody's guess what will happen to the combined stock once the transition is completed but investors probably still won't see a dividend.

 

[Mr Tony]

bummer

 

[primestar31]

Rovi doesn't have a good track record. But, you never know. This might be the exact thing they both need to build a better, stronger combined company...

 

[Mr Tony]

True

 

[harshness]

This might be the exact thing they both need to build a better, stronger combined company...

It might be, but they don't seem to have many "synergies" so each half of the merged entity will probably go on doing their respective thing in a consumer marketplace that is becoming less interested in linear TV (where TiVo lives) and more focused upon on demand programming. For Rovi that seems to mean bringing one of your potentially big customers in-house and that doesn't make financial sense. It is supposed to work the other way around such that a big customer buys an important vendor.

If Rovi thinks they're going to cut a fat hog off of TiVo's IP library, the earliest TiVo patents expire in a little over two years.

 

[Mr Tony]

I guess we'll see what happens in a few weeks

 

[harshness]

I guess we'll see what happens in a few weeks

Q3 2016 is a few months away and that's just the beginning of what will be the new TiVo.

As we learned from the AT&T acquisition of DIRECTV, things don't settle out immediately even with recognized synergies.

 

[Mr Tony]

I was more referring to the supposed TiVo/Tribune agreement ending in a couple weeks

 

[osu1991]

That's what has me worried. Tivos contract for guide data with gracenote expiring in a couple weeks


Sent from my iPhone

 

[harshness]

I was more referring to the supposed TiVo/Tribune agreement ending in a couple weeks

Shame on me for assuming that you were on topic.

 

[Mr Tony]

That's what has me worried. Tivos contract for guide data with gracenote expiring in a couple weeks
Sent from my iPhone

exactly

Shame on me for assuming that you were on topic.

I am in topic. The Tivo/Rovi thing has been active lately (before the published sale) and with Tribune/gracenote agreement possibly ending the 14th this adds to it

 

[navychop]

So no point considering the soon to be released 1TB OTA unit until after the guide data smoke clears.

They had to see this coming- which path did they choose?

 

[Mr Tony]

ironically my Tivo has guide info for the 15th (because some series timers are set for that day)