Imagination Technologies announces new capital investment from Fortress Investment Group

July 24, 2024 -- Imagination Technologies today announced a new investment by funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC. Under the terms of the agreement, Fortress has provided Imagination with a $100 million convertible term loan to support the continued development and growth of technologies and intellectual property (IP) solutions that will help power advances across Graphics, Compute and AI at the edge.

Over the past 30 years Imagination has consistently pushed the boundaries of what is possible by working with partners to develop patent protected GPU, CPU, AI and Ray Tracing semiconductor IP. Today, Imagination’s IP is present in over 13 billion devices around the globe, in a wide range of industries including automotive, data centre and desktop, mobile, and consumer and IoT.

Imagination will use the financing to support its ambitious objectives for growth, which reflect the centrality of Imagination’s innovative solutions to Graphics, Compute and AI at the edge – markets that are expected to grow significantly in the coming years. As the complexity of semiconductor design and associated development costs continue to increase, the semiconductor IP market is expected to become an $11 billion revenue opportunity by 2026, a 15% CAGR since 2020. By 2030, the total artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor market is expected to grow to more than $1 trillion, a 32% CAGR from 2025.

Imagination’s latest products have set new industry benchmarks, further reinforcing the company’s position of leadership in some of the fastest growing technology segments. The recently unveiled APXM-6200 CPU, a performance-dense RISC-V application processor with artificial intelligence, is designed to support the compute and intuitive user experience needs for next generation consumer and industrial devices. And the recently announced IMG DXD, a scalable GPU IP with support for DirectX®, is tailor-made for desktop, laptop and cloud gaming graphics experiences and has already been licensed for use in the desktop market.

Ray Bingham, Executive Chair of Imagination Technologies, says:

"We are thrilled that Fortress has chosen to invest in Imagination. This investment comes with a shared commitment to drive Imagination’s innovation in GPU, CPU and AI, and to help us accelerate growth, drive significant advancements, and deliver unparalleled IP value to customers.”

Eran Zur, Head of Intellectual Property at Fortress, says:

“We are deeply familiar with Imagination’s team, the company’s extraordinary track record of innovation, and its world-class patent portfolio. Imagination is exceptionally well-positioned to capture a greater share of the growth in technology, including in AI, given the burgeoning demand for ever-more efficient compute solutions across the global economy. We look forward to bringing Fortress’s expertise in intellectual property, technology and growth investing to help Imagination continue expanding its leadership in the industry, develop new capabilities, and maximize the value of its portfolio.”

Barclays and Jefferies acted as joint placement agents to the Company in connection with the transaction.

About Imagination Technologies

Imagination is a UK-based company that creates silicon and software IP designed to give its customers an edge in competitive global technology markets. Its GPU, CPU, and AI technologies enable outstanding power, performance, and area (PPA), fast time-to-market, and lower total cost of ownership. Products based on Imagination IP are used by billions of people across the globe in their smartphones, cars, homes, and workplaces.

About Fortress Investment Group

Fortress Investment Group LLC is a leading, highly diversified global investment manager. Founded in 1998, Fortress manages $49.0 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2024, on behalf of approximately 2,000 institutional clients and private investors worldwide across a range of credit and real estate, private equity and permanent capital investment strategies.