Arris’s pending $2.1 billion acquisition of U.K.-based Pace plc took a step forward Wednesday as shareholders stamped the deal. 

At a special meeting of stockholders held  today, the proposal was approved by stockholders holding 129,714,934 shares, representing approximately 88% of outstanding Arris shares as of the record date (September 10, 2015), with more than 99% of the shares voted at the meeting, Arris said. 

Per English law, Pace is required to hold two special meetings to approve the scheme of arrangement -- a court-ordered meeting and a general meeting,  both of which are scheduled to be held on October 22. 

Arris now believes it won’t be able to close the deal until “late December or the first quarter of 2016” amid additional requests from the U.S. Department of Justice and regulators in Brazil and Colombia that could pave the way for conditions that Arris divest part of the optical transmission business of the combined company. 

“We see the sale of the Pace transmission unit as the most logical scenario,” Raymond James analyst Simon Leopold said in a research note this week, noting that it would not represent a “show stopper.” 

"We are pleased to complete another condition to the closing of the combination,” Arris chairmand and CEO Bob Stanzione said, in a statement. “ We continue to believe that our strong, complementary businesses provide expanded opportunities to support our customers and increase our speed of innovation as we collaborate to invent the future."

Layer3 TV, the Denver-based “next generation cable operator,” has not yet outlined its go-to-market strategy, but it’s becoming clear – in bright pink and orange, no less – that the resulting service will operate in part on an IP-based device made by Pace plc.

The Donohue Report spotted the device as it passed through the FCC. Though short in technical detail, the device located is model number CI2516, and has a colorful, humorous sticker on its underside that reads:  “WOOO OOAHH!! Who Turned Everything Upside Down?”  The Pace-made device also sports a DOCSIS MAC ID sticker, meaning it's for HFC networks. U.K.-based Pace is in the process of being acquired by Arris for $2.1 billion.

Layer3 TV is expected to support a variety of IP-connected devices, but it has dropped hints that it will also offer its own consumer gear, including a set-top that would be capable of supporting 4K/Ultra HD. As for other hints, a job posting from March 2014 proclaimed: "Knowing what RDK is counts as extra credit!," an indication that the company was at least considering a platform that uses the Reference Design Kit, the preintegrated software stack being managed by Comcast, Time  Warner Cable and Liberty Global. 

Layer3 TV, which recently changed its logo, has been asked for comment on the device.

Update: "We don't comment on equipment filings with the FCC," said Layer3 TV's head of marketing Eric Kuhn. "However, we have promised to be a next generation cable operator, so maybe pink and orange is the new black?"

The finding at the FCC marks the first evidence of a consumer device from Layer3 TV, which is expected to launch its IP-based service this year. The Denver-based outfit has not announced its specific plans and product strategy and roadmap, including whether it will offer a direct-to-consumer service or work in partnership with existing MVPDs.

However, a recent FCC filing by the company seems to add fuel to the notion that Layer3 TV will operate as a virtual MVPD of sorts. It told the FCC in July (subscription required) that it’s possible to build a platform that looks and acts like a traditional multichannel video programming distributor from a Commission-requirements standpoint, but can still be innovative and compete head on with legacy pay TV service providers.

A person familiar with the company’s plan told Multichannel News that would be inaccurate to label Layer3 TV an OTT service because it’s aiming to become a “new class” of distributor.

Layer3 TV did describe itself as having a “facilities-based architecture” to the FCC, which is looking to define online video providers (OVDs) that deliver a linear programming stream as MVPDs. If defined as such, an OVD would have access to content through the FCC’s program-access rules, but likewise would have to negotiate for retransmission consent with broadcasters.

The July 22 ex parte filing — which describes a meeting between several staff members of FCC chairman Tom Wheeler and Layer3 TV executives, including co-founders Jeffrey Binder (CEO) and David Fellows (chief technology officer) as well as Kuhn  — appears to confirm that Layer3 TV is approaching its business as a bona fide MVPD with the rights and privileges that such status would confer.

Layer3 TV likewise proposed to the FCC that a “technology-neutral” approach would paradoxically inhibit competition and degrade the quality of content that consumers demand, were the FCC to jettison certain obligations aimed at protecting the consumer interest, including requirements such as Emergency Alert System compliance, closed captioning, limits on commercial audio volume and the provision of public, educational and governmental (PEG) access channels.

“Compliance with those legacy rights and obligations that remain applicable, regardless of the delivery technology, is neither impossible nor anti-competitive,” Layer3 TV argued. “Nor is such a requirement unduly burdensome for new entrants, as Layer 3 TV said it would soon demonstrate.”

Layer3 TV hasn’t announced a launch date, but it is gearing up amid the recent debut of OTT-delivered pay TV services such as Sling TV, Dish Network’s slimmed-down service for cord-cutters, and PlayStation Vue, a more-robust multichannel offering Sony is currently selling in seven markets: Dallas, Miami, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco.

Of recent note, Layer3 TV added programming vets Lynne Costantini (now president of business development at TheBlaze and a former exec of Scripps Networks and Time Warner Cable) and Sean Riley (an exec with multiscreen video tech firm 1 Mainstream who is also late of Fox Networks) to its content advisory board, which is now led by its chief content officer Lindsay Gardner, a programming vet who was formerly with Fox and Cox Communications.

In June, Layer3 TV  raised a $51 million “B” round that extended its total to $80 million.

Layer3 TV, founded in 2013,  opened its Denver headquarters in September 2014. 

The announcements are arriving at a fast and furious rate as the IBC show (September 11-16) gets underway in Amsterdam. Here’s a roundup of news snippets from the video and tech confab:

-You.i and Pace will show a new user interface that’s running on 4K-capable Media Servers and “IP Pucks” that are pre-integrated with Pace Elements middleware for both Reference Design Kit (RDK) and non-RDK deployments. You.i, by the way, is underpinning the interface for “shomi,” the new OTT subscription video offering from Canadian operators Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications.

-Off the floor, RDK LLC, the joint venture of Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Liberty Global, plans to host a private, closed door meeting with suppliers and operators on Sept. 16, according to people familiar with it. For an expanded look at the RDK’s global ambitions and a sampling of RDK demos that will be shown at IBC, please see this story (subscription required) from the Sept. 8 issue of Multichannel News.

-IBM’s Aspera division -- in tandem with broadcast production systems vendor EVS and multiscreen video specialist Elemental Technologies – has introduced a large-scale system for the delivery of live high-res video streaming from the proverbial cloud. The system is particularly tailored for the delivery of live sporting events, they said.

-Arris has introduced a suite of advanced compression products, including the HEVC-capable DSR-7400 Transcoder Integrated Receiver/Decoder; the SE-7400 HEVC UHD/4K Encoder (a single-channel HEVC/UHD encoder for live linear encoding up to 4Kp60; and the ME-7000 Converged Compression Platform (for multiscreen delivery of IPTV, cable and satellite applications).  

-Alcatel-Lucent has introduced virtualization features to its Velocix Content Delivery Network (CDN) platform that decouples the software that controls and routes traffic on a network from the physical infrastructure that provides compute and storage resources. That combo reduces the time required to install or expand the CDN, the company said, noting that the product set joins the company’s network functions virtualization (NFV) portfolio announced earlier this year.

-Ooyala, the online video publisher being acquired by Australian telco Telstra, said it has won a deal to support Sky Sports’ free VOD content slate offered on its website, including analytics that tell Sky now users are engaging with that content and discovery features that help visitors find content. Ooyala also announced that it is powering premium content for Presto on Google Chromecast  devices. Presto is a premium movie streaming service based in Australia.

Please check back for additional items and updates throughout the day.

U.K.-based set-top maker Pace said its “Elements” middleware platform is now fully compliant with the Reference Design Kit (RDK), the preintegrated software stack for IP-capable gateways and set-tops that’s being managed by Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Liberty Global.

Pace also shed some light on the number of RDK-facing boxes Comcast has deployed for its X1 platform. The vendor said it has shipped more than 3 million RDK-complaint devices in the U.S., and is working with additional partners and operators on the trialing and testing of RDK devices in the Americas and other parts of the globe. Comcast has also begun to source RDK devices from Arris.

Looking ahead, Pace said it will expand RDK products into DVB-based cable markets in partnership with other “major MSOs,” including Liberty Global.

RDK Management, the J.V. managing the RDK, is working on a 2.0 version of the platform that will strip out U.S.-centric technology requirements (such as the Open Cable Application Platform) and aim to conform with cable systems that use the Digital Video Broadcasting standard, which is popular in regions such as Europe.  In February, industry sources said RDK 2.0 was in the final release stage.

Separately, Pace said it has expanded its relationship with the RDK Management joint venture by singing up to the RDK Advanced Support Program (access to tools, testing platforms and training) and Media Sponsorship Program, which provides “enhanced communications” between the vendor, RDK Management and other RDK stakeholders.

Jim Henderson, a cable vet who is late of Comcast and Charter Communications, has been appointed president of Pace plc’s international business unit.

Henderson, who will be based in the U.K., succeeds Shane McCarthy, and will take over Pace’s International business in the EMEA and APAC regions, and lead a team of more than 500 people and a unit with annual revenues of about $800 million.

“I am excited to have Jim join Pace in this position. His experience and drive will be great assets to Pace, and I am confident he will lead our International business to achieve even greater levels of success,” Pace CEO Mike Pulli said, in a release.

At Comcast, Henderson served in several senior-level slots, including VP, strategic business procurement, supply chain and operations; and, at Charter, was VP of corporate development, strategic products and advanced services. Prior to that, he managed functions such as procurement, business development and operations at Bell Atlantic (now Verizon Communications).

Most recently, Henderson founded a consulting company where he advised C-level clients on sales, marketing and operations strategies.

Last year, Henderson was named an executive advisor of Gainspeed, a cable access network startup that is developing a virtualized version of a Converged Cable Access Platform (CCAP).

Update: With Henderson taking on the new role at Pace, he will be stepping down as an advisor at Gainspeed, a Gainspeed official confirmed.

Pace, known as a maker of set-tops, gateways, and other consumer premises equipment, expanded into the cable access network arena last year via its $310 million acquisition of Aurora Networks.