[NewsPoster]

TiVo, the manufacturer of TV set-top boxes, has agreed to be acquired by another company that is also quite big in the digital video recorder business. Rovi will be paying $1.1 billion, made up of approximately $277 million in cash and the remainder paid in stock, to acquire the DVR producer, with the deal apparently being seen as a way for Rovi to significantly increase its patent catalog by including TiVo's collection to the pile.

While TiVo is well known for its set-top boxes, Rovi is not as prominent, but is still quite successful, with DealBook noting it has a market value of around $1.7 billion to TiVo's $750 million. Rather than create devices, Rovi instead earns its money from the software driving DVRs and other set-top boxes, with it also using its patent collection to bring in a large proportion of its revenue from licensing patents and suing patent infringers.

The acquisition "strengthens Rovi's position as a global leader in media discovery, metadata, analytics, and IP licensing," said Rovi CEO Tom Carson in a statement. "It's an exciting time as the media and entertainment landscape undergoes a significant evolution," with Carson believing the deal will extend the customer base and the number of platforms it can reach.

The deal is expected to complete in the third quarter, pending regulatory approval, and will provide Rovi with a number of benefits. The combined IP portfolios total over 6,000 issued patents and pending applications, with the deal expected to provide $100 million in annual cost-saving synergies. Once completed, the new company name will be TiVo.

[bdkennedy1]

That Tivo bent design kills me every time I see it.

[pastusza]

Over 6000 patents....

Hmm... TiVo has now become a patent troll.

How sad, for the best DVR ever made.

[dmwalsh568]

pastusza, Patent trolls don't make anything other than lawsuits. TiVo has a full product line, so they shouldn't be considered trolls. It would be like calling Microsoft or Google a patent troll....