Following its suggestion February 20 that networking giant Cisco was looking to sell off its set-top box business – swiftly denied by the company – the New York Post is now reporting that Google is trying to sell the pay-TV set-top box (STB) unit that it will acquire with Motorola Mobility once the $12.5 billion deal is completed.

The report also suggests that Technicolor and Pace are considering similar disposals, with anticipated Internet-connected TV services from the likes of Google and Apple, and STB functionality increasingly located in the cloud, removing much of the need for viewers to own an STB.

The Post suggests that while Google hasn’t put out a sales book on the STB business, it has enlisted investment bank, Qatalyst Partners, and Barclays Capital to advise on the asset disposal.

Motorola, which has been losing market share to players such as Pace, tried unsuccessfully to sell the business in 2009 for $4.5 billion. The emergence since then of devices such as Apple TV and Roku is likely to drive the price tag even lower.

Categories: Articles, Business, In Home, M&A, STB