Imagination Technologies Group has today committed to increasing its investment in the UK as it seeks growth in the USA, Europe and Asia. Ron Black, is stepping down as CEO of the company and from the company's board to be replaced by Ray Bingham, currently Executive Chairman and a Partner at Canyon Bridge.

Imagination, which is owned by Canyon Bridge Capital Partners LLC, an international private equity firm, is seeking further growth, almost three years after it was taken private by Canyon Bridge.

Since acquiring Imagination Technologies in late 2017, Canyon Bridge has provided ongoing financial support by investing $50 million in in the form of interest-free loans.

Despite the stressful condition of the global economy, Imagination says it is well positioned to benefit from trends towards continued automation, connectivity, and widespread implementation of AI technologies. The company is betting on its ray tracing technology and has been at the forefront of development in this area. In 2019 Imagination Technologies filed 304 patents, putting it in the top 15 patent filers in the UK.

Ray Bingham, Executive Chairman, Imagination Technologies, and founding partner, Canyon Bridge Capital Partners Inc. said:

“Since acquiring Imagination Technologies in 2017, we’ve made great progress in transforming the company and we remain fully committed to the UK and to supporting our customers around the world. Our strategy will benefit the company’s headquarters and global business development and our priority remains our customers and staff.

“We are having a very successful year with multiple licensees of our performance-leading A-Series GPU, continued growth in the mobile and automotive GPU markets, and strategic partnerships around our ray tracing technology. We look forward to continuing that momentum as we introduce category leading new products, and expand the business on all fronts to position it for continued growth across a number of key markets around the world.

“We thank Ron for his service and wish him all the best for the future. I would also like to thank our customers and staff for their continued support.”

In the wake of outbreak of COVID-19, Imagination Technologies had 850 people in eight offices in five countries, working remotely in less than two days.

Earlier this month, reports suggested that the graphics and communications processor intellectual property (IP) company was on the brink of being moved to China. According to the reports, the company was supposed to hold a board meeting to discuss appointing four directors representing China Reform Holdings.
The meeting was reportedly cancelled after British government intervention. Senior members of parliament in the UK had reportedly raised concerns about national security if the Chinese appointments were made and there was an eventual shift of the company’s IP to China.

China Reform is the limited partner of Canyon Bridge.

Earlier this year, Imagination got back into Apple with a new multi-year license agreement under which Apple has access to a wider range of Imagination’s intellectual property in exchange for license fees. In 2017 Apple had decided to design Imagination out of its products.