Telecom gear maker CommScope to buy Arris in 5G push

(Reuters) - U.S. telecom equipment maker CommScope Holding Co Inc said on Thursday it would buy set-top box maker Arris International Plc in a $7.4 billion deal to bulk up its business ahead of the global roll-out of 5G.

The offer price of $31.75 per share represents a premium of 14 percent over Arris' Wednesday close. Excluding debt repayment, the deal is valued at about $5.69 billion, according to Reuters calculations.

CommScope, which was taken public by private equity firm Carlyle Group LP in 2013, sells connectivity products to the wireless industry and cable operators. Arris makes modems and set-top boxes for the same industries.

The deal comes as telecommunications companies are spending heavily to upgrade their infrastructure to handle streaming video and get ready to roll out 5G networks.

Reuters had reported about a possible deal between the two companies last month.

Separately, Carlyle will also make an $1 billion equity investment in CommScope for a stake of about 16 percent.

Allen & Co LLC, Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, and BofA Merrill Lynch were financial advisers to CommScope. Evercore advised Arris.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2019.

(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee and Akanksha Rana in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)