42 TVBEurope Feature
Investments inspire unity in visual delivery
Deals at both ends of the value spectrum continue to intrigue, as companies look for ways to improve their business off erings and position in the market. Imagine Communications’ acquisition of Digital Rapids was one of the talking points of this year’s NAB conference, while more recently, 3TS Capital Partners has invested $7.2 million in multiscreen solutions provider, Visual Unity. James McKeown reports
“IMAGINE
COMMUNICATIONS is laser-focused on leading the industry to a future defi ned by IP, software, the cloud and TV Everywhere, with an architecture vision for delivering and monetising multiscreen content,” said Charlie Vogt, CEO of Imagine Communications, on announcing the deal to acquire Digital Rapids in April. It is an acquisition that demonstrates Imagine’s commitment to the enhancement of its TV Everywhere portfolio, and its wider campaign to pioneer change in the industry. As Digital Rapids CEO, Brick Eksten put it, “Imagine Communications is strategically positioned to transform the media and entertainment industry through innovations in IP, software-defi ned workfl ows and virtualisation.”
If the industry isn’t exactly ‘laser-focused’ on a future defi ned by digital parameters, then it is at least accepting of the necessity to engage with the technologies, solutions and platforms that will form the basis of the future industry. The mergers and acquisitions activity we have seen this year is a refl ection of this, with more investments in multiscreen and ‘next gen’ entities only likely to increase.
Indeed, the
involved. This is particularly the case for Visual Unity, for whom the $7.2 million investment will signifi cantly enhance the growth of its vuMedia™ product. CEO, Tomas Petru, told TVBEurope about the signifi cance of the deal itself, and its timing in the growth of the company. “The investment is defi nitely a cornerstone for the growth of the company, and comes at an ideal time,” he explained. “Digital mobility has changed all aspects of communication, education and entertainment, and visual communication (including both video and audio) is key part of that. Even though there are companies that have raised larger amounts of money than us, we feel the competition is weak — not just because they don’t have as robust a product, but also because they don’t have entertainment and TV technology experience, which
“Digital mobility has
$7.2 million investment by 3TS Capital Partners in OTT and multiscreen solutions provider, Visual Unity, provides the most recent example, and while at the other end of the value spectrum, is no less signifi cant for the companies
changed all aspects of communication, education and entertainment, and visual communication (including both video and audio) is key part of that” Tomas Petru, vuMedia
is key. So, this investment puts us in the best possible position and gives us the power to create an even bigger group of
happy, profi table customers.”
That investment will be used primarily to bolster the growth of an already robust vuMedia™ platform that is based on
“200 man-years” of code, and to allow the company more valuable time with its customers. “The aim of this investment is to give us more face time with our customers,” Petru continued. “This will allow us to present vuMedia as the solution that meets their needs in the developing world of individualised media
communication. It will also allow us to expand our customer service so that we are even more accessible to support our customers.”
As an investing partner, 3TS Capital Partners brings plenty to the table in terms of pedigree for technical investments. The growth capital technology fund’s investment in Visual Unity comes from its Cisco, ENRD, EIF and OTP backed growth capital fund that specialises in fast growing technology companies, and will see 3TS acquire a minority stake in the company. Petru explained the involvement of 3TS in the concept and delivery of the company’s strategy going forward.
“Our goal was to get a partner, not just funds, and
Tomas Petru
we have achieved that with 3TS, which has a track record of bringing CEE (Central and Eastern Europe) companies to a global scale (LogMeIn). Even during due diligence, which was performed by PwC, we were able to identify and apply improvements to the management processes. Investors empower a company through a strong board. We wanted a partner and we got a partner, and these integrated skills are multiplying the power of the company.”
The partnership will help the company to scale for the future, but in terms of fulfi lling Visual Unity’s growth strategy going forward, is the company actively looking for more investors, or will 3TS’ investment satisfy the fi nancial and strategic requirements for the mid-to-long-term?
“The fact that we have a great product, great customers, a strong sales pipeline and market opportunities means that the investment has a very strong business strategy connected to it,” Petru concluded. “This should quickly allow us to get close to $500 million in revenue. The benefi t of being a real and ready company adds a multiple to every dollar invested. However, because our industry is so fast moving — and because we are really customer-centric — we plan to scale our customer support and coverage based on pipeline rather than waiting for bottlenecks to show up during deployments. This means we will probably have some working capital needs. We are ready for that with the existing investor, and we also have a number of other opportunities for bank or other ‘standard’ fi nancing.” It’s an interesting deal that again highlights the investments being made to capitalise on the growth in OTT and video streaming services.
www.tvbeurope.com July 2014
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