Sony Interactive Entertainment completed the acquisition of Netherlands-based Nixxes Software, it said Thursday. The Nixxes team will join PlayStation Studios providing in-house technical and development capabilities, said SIE. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Shenandoah Telecommunications completed the sale of Shentel Wireless to T-Mobile, Shenandoah said Thursday (see 2106010017). Shenandoah receives cash proceeds of $1.94 billion, including a $60 million settlement of the waived management fees by Sprint, an indirect subsidiary of T-Mobile, Shenandoah said.

Voxx’s Premium Audio subsidiary and Sharp formed a joint venture to acquire assets of Onkyo Home Entertainment, as the next step after an asset purchase agreement signed in early June (see 2106030071). Onkyo shareholders approved the proposed transaction on Friday, said Voxx Monday. Purchase price is $30.8 million, plus the assumption of liabilities and future commission payments to Onkyo on select product sales, Voxx said. Premium Audio, which will own about 75% of the joint venture, will handle distribution worldwide and be responsible for all sales and marketing. Sharp, with 25% share, will be responsible for manufacturing through its Malaysia facility. The joint venture will have ownership of the brands, intellectual property, engineering, and manufacturing rights of the Onkyo and Integra brands. The Onkyo deal is expected to be finalized on or before Aug. 30. "It will take time to ramp up production and secure parts, given near-term industry headwinds," said Voxx CEO Pat Lavelle, but Voxx expects the transaction to lead to "significant growth and improved profitability in the years ahead." It anticipates net sales of about $50 million in fiscal 2022, ending in May, "with upside thereafter as we leverage our distribution domestically and abroad." Voxx also signed a new licensing agreement with Pioneer to market and sell the Pioneer and Pioneer Elite brands worldwide through Premium Audio, excluding China.

Cohu completed the $125.4 million sale of its printed circuit board test business to Swedish PCB assembly company Mycronic, said the seller Thursday. It plans to use the cash proceeds to pay down about $100 million in debt, it said. Cohu announced the sale in May.

Electronic Arts will pay $1.4 billion cash to buy mobile games studio Playdemic from Warner Bros. Games, announced AT&T, WarnerMedia and EA Wednesday. Playdemic is the studio behind the popular mobile game Golf Clash, downloaded more than 80 million times globally, said the sellers. “While we have great respect for the Playdemic team, our decision to divest is a part of our overall strategy to build games based on Warner Bros. storied franchises,” said Warner Bros. Games President David Haddad. Buying Playdemic is “the next step building on our strategy to expand our sports portfolio and accelerate our growth in mobile to reach more players around the world,” said EA CEO Andrew Wilson. Holdings in the Warner Bros. Games portfolio other than Playdemic will become part of WarnerMedia/Discovery when that transaction closes, said AT&T.

Representatives of AT&T and TPG Capital questioned the FCC International Bureau about when it might approve the planned spinoff of AT&T's U.S. video distribution business (see 2102240046), per an IB ex parte filing last week. AT&T, TPG and the FCC didn't comment Monday. "We discussed the potential timing of the FCC’s order addressing the applications" was the entire summary of what was discussed in Thursday's lobbying conversation.

Hyundai completed its $1.1 billion buy of a controlling interest in mobile robotics company Boston Dynamics from SoftBank, said the companies Monday. Hyundai will own 80% of Boston Dynamics, SoftBank the rest, they said.

Accenture is buying German engineering and testing company umlaut. Accenture said Monday the move is aimed at increasing engineering capabilities in areas including 5G, cloud and artificial intelligence. Accenture said it’s picking up more than 4,200 umlaut engineers and consultants in 17 countries.

OneWeb asked the FCC to approve Eutelsat buying 24% of OneWeb (see 2104270055), and simultaneous approval of modifications to the market access grants for its non-geostationary orbit constellation and transfer of control of associated earth stations to reflect that changed ownership structure, in an FCC International Bureau application Thursday. OneWeb said Eutelsat would bring "significant technical, operational, business and marketing expertise" that can help in selling connectivity services, in addition to the $550 million investment.

AT&T in hindsight likely wouldn't have bought DirecTV because pay-TV universe subscriber losses were steeper than expected when the carrier started pursuing the deal, CEO John Stankey said Thursday during an Economic Club talk. He said DirecTV didn't generate the value long term that was expected. He said it's "entirely possible" the spinoff of the company's video business (see our report here]) could recapture some lost value, and said the WarnerMedia/Discovery spinoff and combination (see 2105160003) should generate big returns for shareholders, including him. "I intend to leave all my equity in that new business," Stankey said. While the deal goes through regulatory review, WarnerMedia is "full steam ahead" with initiatives such as launch of an ad-supported HBO Max tier this month and work on a CNN streaming product, Stankey said. The $65 billion for broadband the administration and Senate Republicans agreed on (see 2105270072) before talks collapsed potentially "knocks ... out" the rural digital divide problem, though that access likely will use a mix of technologies including wireless and satellite, along with fiber, and won't be as robust as will be found in less-rural areas, Stankey said. Left unaddressed is the affordability issue, which will require about $4 billion annually in subsidies, he said. That money could come from congressional appropriations or from excise or use taxes, he said. Asked about AT&T's $23 billion in 2021 C-band payments, he said it "will not be the last investment we make in spectrum" to meet increasing wireless data demands. Stankey said occupancy at AT&T's Dallas headquarters was about 20% a month ago, and is growing. He said the company will be in its "new hybrid mode" by summer's end, with all employees in one of three categories: in the office a couple of days a month, in the office a couple of days a week, and daily. He said a high percentage of AT&T workers would be hybrid: So far, the company is urging but not requiring worker vaccinations.