After a successful partnership working together since 1998, Harris has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Aastra Digital Video for approximately $35 million in cash. Aastra makes video networking, encoding, decoding and multiplexing equipment.
Aastra, a Bridgewater, NJ-based business unit of Aastra Technologies, has been supplying Harris with video networking products sold under the Flexicoder and NetVX brand names for eight years. Aastra's revenue for the 12 months ended December 31, 2005, and was approximately $18 million.
Tim Thorsteinson, president of Harris Broadcast Communications Division, said the purchase of Aastra would broaden its engineering resources to address a number of IPTV and mobile TV applications.
Aastra employs 35 people and works with customers such as Bell Canada, CTV, the NFL and Turner Broadcasting. Among a number of products, Aastra offers its VideoRunner multiservice video networking system.
For Harris, the acquisition provides good symmetry with its other product divisions and solidifies its presence in the cable, satellite and telco markets, which are all developing new services based on IPTV and mobile TV infrastructures. This includes the reliable delivery of MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 program streams
For more information, visit www.harris.com.
