Avid Technology has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Pinnacle Systems in a cash and stock transaction, valued at approximately $462 million (about $71.3 million in cash). The acquisition is subject to be finalized in the second or third quarter of this year.
The purchase price represents a 30 percent premium over Pinnacle's closing stock price of $4.97 on March 18.
There is a sizable amount of product synergies, as well as a number of lines, such as Pinnacle’s MediaStream servers and Liquid line of edit systems, that will have to be looked at closely to see which survives and which fall victim to the merger. Pinnacle's Deko line of SD and HD character generators is also included in the acquisition.
Pinnacle's consumer video business is also part of the deal. Avid plans to establish a new consumer video division to handle the new market.
For more information, visit www.avid.com and www.pinnaclesys.com.
