Thomson has announced an agreement to acquire the Thales Broadcast & Multimedia business unit. In a related announcement, Thomson also described a strategic partnership with Thales, the parent company of TBM and an international electronics group.
Thales Broadcast & Multimedia provides platforms for IPTV services, video-on-demand, mobile TV, and designs digital TV and radio broadcasting systems and equipment.
By combining the TBM activities with Thomson’s existing Systems & Equipment offerings, the group will offer end-to-end products and services in IPTV, mobile TV and digital terrestrial transmission (DTT) markets.
Thomson also intends to acquire Canopus, a Japan-based high-definition desktop video-editing software supplier. The transaction completes Thomson’s external initiatives linked to its Grass Valley Broadcast & Networks business.
Through this agreement, Thomson will be able to provide cellular operators with a complete set of mobile TV solutions, from content creation to delivery — but using terrestrial television technologies that are suited for video infrastructures.
The acquisition of TBM also enables Thomson to offer a complete software and IPTV distribution infrastructure that deliver live programming and VOD services to set-top boxes.
TBM also provides data servers and advanced compression schemes for interactive applications and broadcast content regionalization such as ad and logo insertions.
For more information, visit www.thomson.net.
