Anybody looking at all the recent mergers & acquisitions activity within the broadcast sector could be forgiven for likening it to London’s Number 37 Bus in that you wait ages for one to arrive and then, suddenly, three buses arrive at the same time!

So what does all this consolidation mean for the industry – and more importantly what should our customers make of it? Are mergers & acquisitions good or bad for our customers? My belief is that they can be either depending on the drivers that led to the acquisition taking place. Are they driven by company’s seeking to invest in the long-term or are they driven by more short-term financial considerations? To really understand what is going on – and therefore what are the medium and long-term implications for the company and its ability to support the growth and development of their customers’ operations – you must look at each transaction closely.

Is cost containment a good motivation? 

Some of the recent merger activity has been driven by venture capital backers seeking greater efficiency in the company’s core operations and to reduce cost wherever this is possible. Cost containment is a perfectly valid ambition for any company, but still you have to ask what is the limit of the company’s vision and will they continue to develop their technology and product base one, three, five or even 10 years down the line.

We have even seen one company splitting itself into two recently. Whilst this would appear to make the company more sellable for its VC owners, what benefit can this be to its many loyal customers?

Is acquisition to drive a common vision a good motivation? 

And then we have the acquisition of AmberFin by Dalet. This, I believe, falls into a very different category. There is no VC company involved – it represents a long term investment by Dalet, a company that is already a proven winner in a highly competitive market. It really is a perfect fit for both companies and something that will benefit all of our customers (many of which we already share).

Dalet and AmberFin – the perfect fit 

We are combining the workflow expertise of Dalet on one side, and the media expertise of AmberFin on the other side. Both companies are well known for the quality of their products. Together, we are creating the best in class MAM/workflow/video platform for the high end broadcast and electronic media markets.

The acquisition expands R&D, support, product, competency, technology, and sales operations of both companies. We will be able to offer our customers a wider functional coverage with truly global reach. At this point, I want to emphasize that we are continuing the AmberFin product line and we continue to support and develop the iCR product line. Combining the best of AmberFin’s media technology and the best of Dalet’s metadata technology is a dream come true. Keep reading this blog to see what comes of it.

Combined company focuses on wider relationships

Last, but by no means least, this acquisition does nothing to restrict our desire to work with other technology vendors within the broadcast space. To this end, Dalet Galaxy will continue to support other transcoder manufactures such as Telestream, Rhozet, and many others. Also, we will continue our very progressive relationships where iCR is sold with other MAM vendors.

Now, the dust is starting to settle after NAB, I’m even more excited about the potential that our union with Dalet offers our customers – today and long into the future. In short: we are really excited about it, and it makes both companies stronger. It’s good news for us and for all our customers!

To find out more about the acquisition take a look at the Press Release.