Ericsson compra Red Bee Media

This transaction will expand Ericsson's broadcast services portfolio, further extend its capabilities in the television industry and add new operations in Europe and Australia.

Ericsson announced this Monday its intention to acquire Red Bee Media, a British company specialized in media services currently in the hands of Macquarie Advanced Investment Partners.

The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, supports Ericsson's strategy to grow in the broadcast services market and leverage its expertise and services to help broadcasters and content owners address the convergence of video and mobility.

With offices in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain and Australia, Red Bee will further strengthen Ericsson's broadcast services business, which was launched in 2007 and expanded in 2012 with the acquisition of Technicolor's Broadcast Services Division.

After the incorporation of Red Bee's 1,240 professionals, Ericsson will focus its global activity on the media sector in the United Kingdom.

Since its founding in 2005, Red Bee Media has established itself as a thriving company with clients around the world to whom it offers a wide range of media services, from asset management and digital video editing, metadata services, multilingual access and other creative services to the main broadcasters and broadband platforms.

Red Bee Media, which is known for its high-quality playout services, is also the largest provider of editorial metadata in Europe, offering broadcasters more than 100,000 hours of subtitling.

Magnus Mandersson, Executive Vice President and Head of the Global Services Business Unit at Ericsson, said: "Ericsson is making a radical change for our business, consolidating our commitment to television and broadcasting services and continuing a journey that began in 2007. We can create value for broadcasters of the most accessible digital content, allowing the monetization of television content more efficiently. Video traffic is very well received on mobile networks. Ericsson and can respond to the needs of broadcasters and telecommunications operators through our experience and capacity for technological services.”

Ericsson's expertise in hardware, software, integration, systems management and operations services have been deployed around the world helping telco and broadcast players successfully implement their business models. Ericsson offers innovative technology solutions for content acquisition, sharing, distribution and delivery of multi-screen entertainment.

Now, with the addition of Red Bee, Ericsson will further increase its portfolio of advanced solutions in terms of accessibility and transcription, rich metadata, content search, storage, management and delivery, identity and cross-platform dissemination...

Closing of the acquisition is subject to approval by the relevant regulatory authorities and other contractual conditions. Once completed, Red Bee Media will be incorporated into Ericsson's Global Services Business Unit.