Pace plc

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Pace plc was a British company which developed set-top boxes (STBs), advanced residential gateways, software and services for the pay-TV and broadband services industry. Pace's customers included cable, telco, satellite and IPTV operators. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange until December 2015, when the company received the last of the regulatory clearances needed to allow a merger with Arris Group to proceed. In 2019, Arris was subsequently acquired by network infrastructure provider CommScope.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

HistoryEdit

The company was founded by Yorkshire born businessmen Barry Rubery, David Hood and Robert Fleming in 1982,<ref name="acornuser200002_pace"/> taking the name Pace Micro Supplies in 1983, eventually being renamed to Pace Micro Technology plc in 1987.<ref name="ch_pace">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It introduced the first low cost commercially available modems in 1985.Template:Citation needed In 1987, it started selling its first analogue satellite set top receivers.<ref name="acornuser200002_pace">Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 1996, it introduced the world's first DVB decoders, for Australian satellite company Galaxy.<ref name="history">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Pace was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1996.<ref name=history/> In 1998, the company started shipping digital satellite television equipment for BSkyB.Template:Citation needed In January 1999, Pace purchased the set top box division of Acorn Computers,<ref name="pace1999">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and converted it into its office in Cambridge.<ref name="acornuser200002_pace"/> In the following years, Pace owned the operating system RISC OS, and used technologies based on it in its decoder equipment. The office in Cambridge was closed in March 2003.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> With Pace focusing on the digital television market, Pace's modem business had been separated from the parent company as the result of a management buy-out, but this new company, PMC Electronics, was placed into receivership in August 1999.<ref name="acornuser200002_pace"/>

Pace started delivering products to Comcast in the United States in June 2000; the company also delivers to AT&T and DirecTV.<ref>Pace to Supply Digital Set Top Boxes to Comcast Cable Business Wire, 26 June 2000</ref> In 2001, Pace announced that it was outsourcing the last of the manufacturing capacity which remained at its location in Saltaire: the head office was reduced to an administration and development centre.<ref>Gordon Brown investigates China Business Wire, 23 February 2005</ref>

File:Pace DC757X cable box mod.jpg

Pace Micro Technology DC757X Set top box

In March 2002, Pace became the first company to market free-to-view personal video recorders (PVRs).<ref>Pace launches Digital Free to View PVR Automated Home, 25 September 2002</ref> In February 2005, Pace in conjunction with Australian subscription television provider Foxtel launched the first DVB-C PVR.<ref>Pace to Launch World's First DVB Cable PDR for payTV Business Wire, 21 February 2005</ref> In April 2006, Neil Gaydon became CEO, taking over from John Dyson, and Mike McTighe became the chairman, taking over from Sir Michael Bett.<ref>Gaydon named Pace CEO Template:Webarchive CED Magazine, 5 April 2006</ref>

In April 2008, Pace acquired the 'Set-Top Box and Connectivity Solutions' division of Royal Philips Electronics, approximately doubling the size of the company.<ref>Pace buys Philips set top box business The Times Online, 19 December 2007</ref> In May 2008, Pace changed its name from Pace Micro Technology plc to Pace plc.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In July 2010, Pace acquired home networking equipment maker 2Wire, which was based in the United States,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> IP and Cable specialist, Bewan Systems SA<ref>Pace Ups Tempo With Bewan Buy Light Reading, 2 March 2010</ref> and pay television software specialist, Latens Systems.<ref>Pace buys Irish software company Yorkshire Post, 4 November 2010</ref> In June 2011, Allan Leighton became chairman.<ref>Allan Leighton confirmed as Pace plc Chairman Pace, 21 June 2011</ref> In December 2011, Neil Gaydon was replaced as CEO by Mike Pulli, formerly president of Pace Americas<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

A significant milestone was reached in 2012, when Pace sold its one hundred millionth digital set top box.<ref name="history"/> In January 2014, Pace completed the acquisition of Aurora Networks, a leading developer and manufacturer of advanced, next generation optical transport and access network solutions for broadband networks.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 22 April 2015, the Boards of Pace and Arris Group announced that they had reached agreement on the terms of a recommended combination of Pace with Arris, in a stock and cash deal that valued Pace at UKP £1.4Bn (US$2.1Bn). The combination was conditional on, amongst other things, shareholder approval from both Pace and Arris shareholders and also the receipt of merger control clearances in a number of jurisdictions including Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Portugal, South Africa and the United States.

The company received the last of the regulatory clearances needed to allow the merger to proceed in December 2015.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The acquisition was completed on 4 January 2016. The resultant combined group is incorporated in the United Kingdom, but operationally managed from the United States, and is owned 24% by Pace shareholders and 76% by Arris shareholders.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

OperationsEdit

Pace's head office was in Saltaire, near Bradford in West Yorkshire. It occupied a large proportion of the Victorian textile mill complex called Salt's Mill. The company had major operations in the United States, France and India, as well as the United Kingdom HQ.