Sigma Designs Signs Agreement to Purchase Trident's Digital Television Business

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012
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MILPITAS, CA — Sigma Designs®, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIGM), a leading provider of connected media platforms, today announced that it has signed an asset purchase agreement to serve as the “stalking horse” bidder to acquire certain assets of Trident Microsystems, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:TRID) Digital Television (DTV) Business, which includes certain products, licensed intellectual property, software and leased facilities, for $21 million in cash plus assumption of specified liabilities upon the closing of the transaction. The purchase price is subject to an adjustment for the closing current asset balance of the DTV Business to the extent the closing current assets differ from a target current asset balance.

As a leading provider of products and solutions for connected media platforms, the proposed DTV acquisition will significantly expand Sigma’s served available market through the addition of Trident’s industry-leading DTV media processor System-on-a-Chip (SoC) products for next-generation Internet-enabled digital televisions. The DTV products complement Sigma’s existing IPTV set-top-box and connected media player SoC solutions, and will augment the Company’s ability to develop truly innovative solutions for the anticipated convergence of IP-video delivery across any device within the home.

The asset purchase agreement has been filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and is subject to a court-approved bidding and auction process in accordance with Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The potential auction and final sale hearing for the assets is expected to be held within the next several weeks. Sigma expects to make employment offers to certain employees of Trident DTV Business, most of whom are located in China. If Sigma is selected as the winning bidder at the auction, it will hold a conference call to discuss the transaction, which is anticipated to close in the second calendar quarter of 2012. Sigma Designs estimates the transaction, if entered into, will generate positive non-GAAP EBITDA in the first full year of operations after closing.