Sigma Designs, a provider of silicon solutions for connected-media platforms, has entered the winning bid for Trident Microsystems' digital TV chip business for $21 million in cash plus debt in a bankruptcy auction.
The selection of Sigma Designs for the Trident DTV business, which includes certain products, licensed intellectual property, software, working capital assets and leased facilities, is subject to approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The court has scheduled a hearing to authorize the sale of the DTV business to Sigma on April 4.
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Trident filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January.
Separately, the bankruptcy court last month approved Entropic Communications' $65 million deal to acquire Trident's set-top-box system-on-a chip assets. Entropic, a provider of home-networking silicon and software, said the Trident STB chip business will bring together two complementary technologies and product lines, combining Entropic's Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) solutions with Trident's SoC business to deliver a complete system solution for pay-TV providers.
Trident's DTV business unit provides system-on-a-chip products for connected digital televisions to manufacturers worldwide.
Sigma Designs expects to make employment offers to approximately 300 employees of the Trident DTV business, most of whom are engineers located in China. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2012.
