Will Imagination Deals Deliver MIPS to China?

Imagination sells itself to Canyon Bridge, while agreeing to sell MIPS to another VC

Junko Yoshida, EETimes
9/25/2017 00:01 AM EDT

TOKYO — Semiconductor industry watchers are pointedly curious about the fine print of two separate agreements governing the sale of U.K.-based IP licensor Imagination Technologies.

The sales of imagination was widely anticipated after the firm put itself up for sale in June, two months after its largest customer, Apple, said it would phase out use of Imagination technology in products that include the iPhone. But the deals announced Friday (Sept. 22), in which Imagination sold itself to Canyon Bridge Capital Partners and MIPS to Tallwood Venure Capital, left market watchers with several questions.

First, did Imagination structure both agreements in such a way as to allow Canyon Bridge — a private equity firm backed in part by the Chinese government — to have access to MIPS CPU IP?

More specifically, do the two VCs — which are buying Imagination and MIPS independently — know each other?

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