A Novo Broadband Inc. said it will expand its business footprint via a
binding agreement to acquire Broadband Services Inc.'s equipment-repair business
for roughly $8 million in cash and undisclosed liabilities.
The deal is expected to close by Aug. 21. A Novo said it would fund the
acquisition via a combination of cash on hand and bridge loans, pending the
closing of additional equity financing.
A Novo, a division of Paris-based A Novo Group, services and repairs
broadband equipment for original-equipment manufacturers and service operators
such as AT&T Broadband, Adelphia Communications Corp., Comcast Corp., Pace
Micro Technology plc and Time Warner Cable.
The company said it expects the merger to add $10 million in annual
digital-repair revenue.
With completion of the deal, A Novo would also become a repair-service vendor
for Motorola Broadband Communications Sector's line of digital cable set-tops,
giving it access to service centers based in New Castle, Del.; Milwaukee; and
Pompano Beach, Fla. A Novo's Montreal facility began to service and repair
digital-cable boxes in June.
'This consolidation is expected to produce approximately $1 million in annual
cost efficiencies to the combined operations,' A Novo CEO Louis Brunel said in a
press release.
When the deal is completed, BSI's Bill Kelly will join A Novo as chief
operating officer.
BSI will retain its MSO supply-chain management and fulfillment business.
In November, BSI inked a deal to sell Com21 Inc.'s line of cable modems,
cable-modem-termination systems and other high-speed-access gear primarily to
tier-two and tier-three cable operators.
