[November 12, 2009] Venture capital firms sell stake in CopperGate Communications to Sigma Designs Tweet Nov 12, 2009 (Datamonitor Financial Deals Tracker via COMTEX) -- Venture capital firms Tamir Fishman Ventures, Carmel Ventures, The Challenge Fund II and Motorola Ventures have completed the sale of their stakes in CopperGate Communications, Ltd. to Sigma Designs, Inc. Both CopperGate and Sigma are US-based developers of system-on-a-chip (SoC) semiconductors. Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, Sigma also assumed outstanding unvested options held by CopperGate employees and agreed to make an additional cash payment of up to $5 million to specified CopperGate employees upon attainment of specified milestones. Announcement (October 13, 2009): Tamir Fishman Ventures, Carmel Ventures, The Challenge Fund II and Motorola Ventures are planning to sell their stake in CopperGate. The total transaction is valued at $160 million. The estimated amount of cash to be paid by Sigma on the closing date is approximately $92 million, plus the amount of cash and cash equivalents estimated to be held by CopperGate at the closing, net of CopperGate transaction expenses and debt outstanding at the closing. In addition, Sigma will issue shares of its common stock to CopperGate shareholders estimated at the time of signing to equal approximately 4 million shares. Sigma has also agreed to pay up to an aggregate of $5 million in cash to specified CopperGate employees; provided that the eligible employee remains employed by Sigma and certain milestones are achieved. Sigma will also assume unvested stock options held by CopperGate employees that will become exercisable for approximately 0.5 million Sigma shares when vested in accordance with their existing vesting schedules. The holders of over 95% of the outstanding capital stock of CopperGate have executed the definitive agreement. Certain significant shareholders have also agreed to vote their shares in favor of the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in 45 to 60 days. UBS Securities LLC is acting as Sigma's exclusive financial advisor. Deal Type Venture Finance Sub-Category Exit Deal Status Completed: 2009-11-12 Deal Participants Target (Company) CopperGate Communications, Ltd. Acquirer (Company) Sigma Designs, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]