Comcast signs warrants agreement with X1 voice remote maker Universal Electronics

Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) has entered into a warrants agreement with the vendor that makes its X1 voice remote, Universal Electronics Inc. (UEI).

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts recently said that the MSO has deployed 5 million of the voice remotes to X1 users. And UEI also has contracts to make home-automation gadgets for Comcast. The warrants agreement will allow Comcast to participate in the vendor's success.

"In anticipation of continued sales growth," a statement released by Santa Ana, Calif.-based UEI said, Comcast has the opportunity to acquire shares of capital stock from UEI "tied to the potential fulfillment of pre-defined purchase milestones under the terms of the warrant agreement."

An SEC filing further illuminated the agreement. "Comcast's right to exercise the warrant is subject to vesting during three successive two-year periods (with the first two-year period commencing on January 1, 2016) during which Comcast must purchase (in each two-year period) no less than $260,000,000 in goods and services from the Corporation and its affiliates (as such term is defined in the warrant agreement)," an 8-K filing said. 

"To vest in all of the warrant shares, Comcast and its affiliates must purchase an aggregate of $1,020,000,000 in goods and services from the Corporation and its affiliates during the six-year vesting period," the document added. 

"This agreement represents a major milestone in our history," said Paul Arling, chairman and CEO of Universal Electronics. "We are privileged to have helped Comcast's X1 redefine the entertainment viewing experience, and we are now positioned to provide innovative products across Xfinity Home as well."

For more:
- read this Universal Electronics press release
- read this SEC filing
- read this Multichannel News story

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