The company was founded by Yorkshire born businessmen Barry Rubery, David Hood and Robert Fleming in 1982, It introduced the first low cost commercially available
modems in 1985. In 1987, it started selling its first
analogue satellite set top
receivers. In 1996, it introduced the world's first
DVB decoders, for Australian satellite company
Galaxy. Pace was
floated on the
London Stock Exchange in 1996. and converted it into its office in Cambridge. With Pace focusing on the digital television market, Pace's modem business had been separated from the parent company as the result of a management buy-out, but this new company,
PMC Electronics, was placed into receivership in August 1999. In 2001, Pace announced that it was
outsourcing the last of the manufacturing capacity which remained at its location in Saltaire: the head office was reduced to an administration and development centre. In March 2002, Pace became the first company to market
free-to-view personal video recorders (PVRs). In February 2005, Pace in conjunction with Australian subscription television provider
Foxtel launched the first
DVB-C PVR. In April 2006, Neil Gaydon became CEO, taking over from John Dyson, and Mike McTighe became the chairman, taking over from Sir Michael Bett. In April 2008, Pace acquired the 'Set-Top Box and Connectivity Solutions' division of
Royal Philips Electronics, approximately doubling the size of the company. In May 2008, Pace changed its name from
Pace Micro Technology plc to
Pace plc. In July 2010, Pace acquired
home networking equipment maker
2Wire, which was based in the United States, IP and Cable specialist, Bewan Systems SA and pay television software specialist, Latens Systems. In June 2011,
Allan Leighton became chairman. In December 2011, Neil Gaydon was replaced as CEO by Mike Pulli, formerly president of Pace Americas A significant milestone was reached in 2012, when Pace sold its one hundred millionth digital set top box. On 22 April 2015, the Boards of Pace and
Arris Group announced that they had reached agreement on the terms of a recommended combination of Pace with Arris, in a stock and cash deal that valued Pace at UKP £1.4Bn (US$2.1Bn). The combination was conditional on, amongst other things, shareholder approval from both Pace and Arris shareholders and also the receipt of merger control clearances in a number of jurisdictions including Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Portugal, South Africa and the United States. The company received the last of the regulatory clearances needed to allow the merger to proceed in December 2015. The acquisition was completed on 4 January 2016. The resultant combined group is incorporated in the United Kingdom, but operationally managed from the United States, and is owned 24% by Pace shareholders and 76% by Arris shareholders. == Operations ==