Arris to Fire 10% of Workforce

Just weeks after completing its $2.1 billion acquisition of U.K. set-top box maker Pace, Arris International PLC (NASDAQ: ARRS) has confirmed that it plans to fire up to 10% of its workforce, or more than 800 employees.

The firings were reported by Multichannel News, which receive the following confirmation statement from Arris:

We are looking across the entire scope of the ARRIS enterprise to identify areas where we can find cost savings, eliminate redundancies, and increase shareholder value. With this in mind, we have a headcount reduction goal of about 10 percent worldwide. We understand how hard these changes will be for the employees concerned and are committed to helping them through this difficult transition.

The company, headquartered in the United Kingdom, but with major operations in Florida and Georgia, posted a 52-week low of $20.27 after announcing weak revenues and soft guidance for the current quarter.
[nativounit]
The set-top box industry is going through a big of a shake-up now as the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last week released its proposed rules for opening up proprietary set-top boxes. Multichannel video programming distributors are resisting the proposed changes. The new rules are now open for a 30-day comment period followed by a 30-day period during which the FCC will respond to comments.

Arris shares traded up about 3% Monday afternoon, at $23.17 in a 52-week range of $20.27 to $37.50.