Digital Vision, based in the UK, has completed its acquisition of Images Systems, a provider of motion analysis, film scanners and other image-processing tools used in the global aerospace, defense, media and automotive industries, and has taken on that company’s name and resources. No financial details related to the sale were provided.
Mikael Jacobsson, current CEO of Image Systems, will lead the new company (taking over from former Digital Vision leader Bengt Broman), which will continue to manufacture and support the Nucoda, Phoenix, and Digital Vision Optics product lines. Digital Vision’s products are used by a variety of broadcast and media and entertainment companies in post production for high-quality image processing, color grading and archive restoration.
In an open letter to the industry, Jacobsson said, “After careful market analysis, it became apparent that the core strength of the company rests in ‘image science.’ As a result, the decision was made to retain the Image Systems name and logo as a more accurate representation of the new company’s services in the marketplace.”
Jacobsson said the new Image Systems will be operated as three new business units: media, defense and motion. All three groups will share R&D and marketing activities where appropriate. Over the next few months, the next stages of the integration plan will be revealed. The breadth of R&D for all divisions will be significantly expanded in addition to product synergies, such as combining Image Systems’ Golden Eye film scanner with the Nucoda and Phoenix solutions.
Image Systems’ current London office will become the headquarters for the new media business unit, which will be led by Martin Bennett and focus on sales, marketing and product development, while the existing Digital Vision Los Angeles office will remain the U.S. headquarters for the company. Bennett, who most recently served as UK managing director and vice president of worldwide marketing, has been with Digital Vision since 2009.
At the 2011 NAB Show, in Booth SL6920, the new Image Systems is exhibiting its full line of products, including new and enhanced versions of the Nucoda and Phoenix grading and restoration platforms, the Precision touch-screen grading panel, Golden Eye III and Golden Eye Archiver.
