Imagination Tech to be bought by China-backed private equity firm for £550m
- Monday, September 25th, 2017
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UK chipmaker Imagination Technologies has agreed a takeover by Canyon Bridge Capital Partners, a China-backed private equity firm, for £550m.
Last week, Canyon Bridge was blocked by US president Donald Trump from purchasing US chipmaker Lattice Semiconductor for $1.3bn over national security concerns.
In shifting its attention to the British chipmaker, the Palo Alto, California-based, Yitai Capital-backed firm has agreed to pay 182p per share for Imagination. Under the agreement, both parties have said there are no plans to cut any staff. 
The deal excludes Imagination’s US unit MIPS, which the chipmaker has agreed to sell to Tallwood Venture Capital for $65m. This deal must go through for Canyon Bridge to proceed with its takeover of Imagination.
Imagination put itself up for sale back in June, after its market value fell 70 per cent when Apple – its largest customer at the time – decided to stop using its technology. Apple’s decision has left the two parties in an ongoing legal dispute over royalties.
