TiVo and Xperi to Merge

TiVo Corporation (Nasdaq: TIVO) and Xperi Corporation (Nasdaq: XPER), parent company of audio industry mainstay DTS, recently announced they entered into a definitive merger agreement in an all-stock transaction, representing approximately $3 billion of combined enterprise value.

According to TiVo, the transaction creates a leading consumer and entertainment technology business and one of the industry’s largest intellectual property (IP) licensing platforms with a diverse portfolio of entertainment and semiconductor intellectual property.

The merger agreement provides for a 0.455 fixed exchange ratio, which implies a 15% premium to TiVo’s shareholders based on each of Xperi’s and TiVo’s 90-day volume-weighted average share prices. At close, Xperi shareholders will own approximately 46.5% of the combined business, and TiVo shareholders will own approximately 53.5%.

With more than 10,000 patents and applications between the two companies and minimal licensee overlap, the combined IP business aim to be a force in licensing. Further, the combined business will benefit from greater research and development capabilities, as well as customer diversification.

“This landmark combination brings together two highly complementary companies poised to set the industry standard for user experiences across the digital value chain,” says Jon Kirchner, CEO of Xperi.

“Together, we will be able to integrate TiVo’s leading content aggregation, metadata, discovery, and recommendation capabilities with our home, automotive, and mobile technology solutions to help our customers create experiences that excite and delight consumers. Additionally, the combined company will continue to unlock the value of our strategic and sizable patent portfolios by bringing together our deep industry expertise and powerful innovation engines. Through greater scale and diversity, we will deliver attractive and sustainable long-term cash flow and shareholder value.”

“There is more content, and more ways to enjoy that content, than ever before,” says David Shull, CEO of TiVo.

“In a rapidly expanding and fragmenting digital universe, consumers want and need to be able to easily find and enjoy the content that matters to them. TiVo has always been the company that brings entertainment together. Now, we can significantly expand our mission. With Xperi’s annual licensing of more than 100 million connected TV units, and complementary relationships with major content providers, consumer electronics manufacturers, and automotive OEMs, our combined company will transform the home, car, and mobile entertainment experience for the consumer.”

TiVo, Xperi Long-Term Vision

The first step in the combined company’s value creation plan will focus on integrating the companies’ respective product and IP licensing businesses. Together, the companies expect to benefit from a larger and stronger platform to drive growth and innovation, accelerate time-to-market, and improve IP licensing monetization and outcomes. The product business expects to pursue substantial cross-selling opportunities especially in its home and automotive markets.

The new company had $1.09 billion in TiVo revenue and Xperi billings and more than $250 million in operating cash flow on a pro forma basis for the twelve months ended September 30, 2019. The combined company expects to deliver revenue synergies by bringing new, innovative solutions to consumer electronics and automotive companies to help address the massive shift in media and entertainment distribution and consumption.

Additionally, the companies expect to achieve at least $50 million of annualized run-rate cost savings by year-end 2021 through the integration of their respective product and IP licensing businesses, the majority of which are expected within the first twelve months after closing. These cost savings are incremental to those that are expected as a result of TiVo’s ongoing cost-transformation plan.

In light of the business combination, TiVo has suspended its near-term plans to separate its product and IP businesses. Upon closing of the transaction, each company’s respective product and IP businesses will be integrated and operated as separate IP licensing and product business units. This will facilitate a potential separation of the combined businesses at a later date.

“TiVo’s management team and board have engaged in a comprehensive review of TiVo’s businesses over the past year, and we are confident that this combination with Xperi is the right path forward for all our stakeholders. While we previously planned to separate our product and IP licensing businesses in April 2020, we believe today’s combination with Xperi will enable us to create even more value for our shareholders in both the near and long term by allowing each to go to market with greater financial and operational scale,” says Shull.