US IT giant’s £1.4bn acquisition of Pace plc to be completed in January

US IT giant ARRIS Group Inc’s acquisition of Saltaire-based digital TV and broadband technology solutions provider Pace plc is to be completed on January 4th.

The deal, which received preliminary approval at the start of the month, will now be given final clearance on Tuesday from Brazil’s competition authority CADE, the last required jurisdiction, after the expiration of the mandatory appeals period.

Following on from the Scheme Court Hearing today, dealings in Pace Shares will be suspended with effect from 5.00 p.m. on 23 December, with the merger completed on 4 January 2016.

ARRIS Group’s new shares to be listed on the NSDAQ on 5 January.

Thew new business, which will employ 8,500 employees in more than 15 countries, will have a turnover of £5.3bn.

The deal was originally announced in April, when Arris offered Pace’s shareholders 132.5p in cash and 0.1455 new Arris shares for each Pace share.

Based in Salts Mill, Pace, which employs around 400 people at its West Yorkshire headquarters, said in September that sales will be £1.63bn for 2015, which is a decrease from £1.68bn in 2014.