Ceva, a licensor of silicon intellectual property (IP) platform solutions and DSP cores, has announced that it would not submit any further proposal to acquire the operating business of MIPS Technologies, As a result, Imagination Technologies will most likely obtain MIPS business for $100 million.

"While Ceva's board of directors and management believed there was strategic merit in the combination of Ceva with MIPS, further increasing the purchase price would not meet our financial objectives. We believe it is in the best interests of our shareholders that our available cash be reserved for other potential opportunities in the future. As part of our corporate business strategy, we will continue to seek and evaluate complementary technologies and businesses that will meet our strategic and financial objectives," said Gideon Wertheizer, chief executive officer of Ceva.

For Imagination Technologies, which licenses multimedia processing solutions as well as graphics processing solutions, MIPS will be a door to a brand new business: microprocessor technologies. Therefore, ImgTec increased the amount it wants to pay MIPS from $60 million to $100 million as a result of competition from Ceva, which wants the same assets. In addition to the operating business of MIPS, Imagination’s purchase includes ownership of 82 key patent properties that are directly relevant to the MIPS architecture, and comprehensive license rights to all of the remaining 498 MIPS’ patent properties.

Bridge Crossing LLC, an acquisition vehicle of Allied Security Trust (AST), will acquire 498 of MIPS' total 580 patent assets for gross proceeds of $350 million. MIPS will retain the remaining 82 patent properties that are directly relevant and key to the MIPS architecture, and will also be granted a royalty-free, perpetual license under all of the patent properties sold to Bridge Crossing. MIPS will also provide a restricted license to Bridge Crossing under the 82 retained patent properties. Allied Security Trust currently has 26 members, from Europe, North America and Asia, including Avaya, HP, IBM, Intel, Motorola, Oracle, Philips and Research in Motion.

Tags: ARM, MIPS, PowerVR, Imagination, Imagination Technologies, Ceva