The controversial China-backed private equity company, Canyon Bridge Capital Partners, which put in a bid for Lattice which is currently under investigation by the US authorities, is said to be pondering a bid for Imagination.

Canyon Bridge has its HQ inPalo Alto but is funded by China. Last November it bid $1.3 billion for Lattice but the deal is still being scrutinised by the US Committee for Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS).

Meanwhile Lattice has been taking measures to shore up its finances. Last week Lattice sold its HDMI business to Invecas of Hyderabad for $5 million. It is also laying off 30 people to reduce costs,

Complaining about the hold up at CFIUS, Canyon Bridge partner Ray Bingham said “the concerns about all things China has been put under a very harsh light and emphasized in a very unfortunate way.”

Bingham was recently forced out of Cypress where he was Executive Chairman after a proxy fight with Cypress founder, CEO and largest shareholder, T.J.Rodgers. Cypress made three bids for Lattice and it was alleged in court documents that, when Canyon Bridge made its bid for Lattice, Bingham, then still the Cypress Executive Chairman, did not inform Cypress.

A possible Canyon Bridge bid for Imagination could also run into regulatory scrutiny from the UK authorities. The two companies are said to be currently engaged in talks.

Imagination, which used to have a market cap of $2 billion, is now worth $400 million following a scrap with Apple after Apple said it would stop  using Imagination’s GPU IP.

By: DocMemory
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