Status:  Upcoming/New Filing

Acquirer:  ARRIS International plc (England and Wales)

Acquired:  Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (US); Broadcom Ltd. (Singapore)

Value:  US$800 million

Industry:  Telecommunications, Network and Data Solutions, Semiconductors

On February 22, 2017,  Broadcom Limited, a Singapore company co-headquartered in San Jose, California, and ARRIS International plc, an IP, video and broadband technology incorporated in England and Wales with headquarters in Georgia,  announced that “they have entered into an agreement for ARRIS to acquire Brocade Communication Systems Inc.’s Ruckus Wireless and ICX Switch business for cash consideration of $800 million . . . following the closing of Broadcom’s acquisition of Brocade.”  (Broadcom Press Release, ARRIS to Acquire Ruckus Wireless and ICX Switch Business for $800 Million in Cash, Feb. 22, 2017; see ARRIS International Form 8-K, Feb. 23, 2017, SEC Filing.)  Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., a California network and data storage solutions company, announced that it entered into a definitive merger agreement with Broadcom in November 2016, valued at approximately US$5.5 billion.  (ARRIS’s acquisition of the Ruckus Wireless and ICX Switch business “is presently expected to close approximately one month following the closing of Broadcom’s acquisition of Brocade.”  (Broadcom Press Release, Feb. 22, 2017.)  In addition, the transaction is subject to “clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act and from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.”  (ARRIS International Form 8-K, Feb. 23, 2017, SEC Filing; see Stock Purchase Agreement, Sec. 5.3, ARRIS International Form 8-K, Ex-2.1, Feb. 23, 2017, SEC Filing (to be filed “[a]s promptly as practicable after the execution of this Agreement”.)