Sigma Designs to acquire CopperGate

IPTV chip developer Sigma Designs has announced a deal to acquire fellow semiconductor form CopperGate Communications for about $160 million in cash and shares. The acquisition would marry Sigma's capabilities in IPTV set-top boxes and related gear to CopperGate's prowess with emerging home networking technologies, specifically HomePNA and HomePlug AV. CopperGate and Sigma also have both been major supporters of the HomeGrid Forum and the ITU-T process to adopt the G.hn home networking the standard.

The timing of the deal, along with last week's ITU-T approval of the G.hn physical layer specification suggests that home networking and IPTV pursuits are beginning to cross paths, and there could be more deal activity among vendors with an eye toward bringing a comprehensive home networking and IPTV approach to service providers.

For more:
- Reuters has this story [1]

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