ARM, Imagination divvy up MIPS

ARM, Imagination divvy up MIPS

NEW YORK -- MIPS Technologies, which had been on the block for almost a year, finally found buyers in a complicated deal involving Imagination Technologies and ARM.

Imagination said Tuesday (Nov. 6) it has agreed to buy MIPS' operating business for $60 million. Under terms of the deal, the U.K. graphics IP vendor will gain 160 engineers and 82 MIPS patents. The move is viewed as a way for Imagination to beef up its CPU core expertise while defending its graphics lead. It would also position Imagination to competing against ARM, which has been pursuing its integrated CPU-GPU solution strategy.

Separately, ARM said it will lead a consortium buying the rights to the MIPS portfolio of 580 patents. The consortium, called Bridge Crossing LLC, will pay $450 million in cash to purchase the rights to the portfolio, of which ARM will contribute $167.5 million.

ARM and others in the consortium are hoping that the deal will reduce the risk of infringing any MIPS patents. The consortium will make available licenses to the patent portfolio to companies outside the consortium, ARM said.

"ARM is a leading participant in this consortium, which presents an opportunity for companies to neutralize any potential infringement risk from these patents in the further development of advanced embedded technology," ARM CEO Warren East said in a statement. "Litigation is expensive and time consuming and, in this case, a collective approach with other major industry players was the best way to remove that risk."

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TAG:ARM MIPS Imagination