Grass Valley adquiere Snell Advanced Media (SAM)

The Canadian group Belden, of which Grass Valley is a member, has acquired the Newbury (United Kingdom)-based company, Snell Advanced Media (SAM), from the private equity fund LDC.

After weeks of rumors, it was finally confirmed this Thursday that the canadian group Belden, in which integra Grass Valley, has acquired the company based in Newbury (United Kingdom) from the private equity fund LDC, Snell Advanced Media (SAM).

Everything seems to indicate that after this operation, of which no financial details have been disclosed, SAM will disappear as a brand to integrate all its product lines under the Grass Valley name, a Belden brand.

Tim Shoulders, who will be the new president of the combined companies, has assured that "with this investment, Belden once again demonstrates its commitment to the broadcast industry. Adding SAM's collaborators and products to the Grass Valley family extends the global reach of the brand, gives us agility and provides even more domain and experience to bring leading network solutions, live and news production and content distribution for broadcasters."

"Our customers are facing competition and uncertainties like never before. This transaction will help them navigate the different technology options available with fewer concerns about interoperability, delivery complexity while providing even greater access to developers of the solutions of the future," he added.

Despite there being great overlap in terms of product lines, especially in the live production segment, the situation is quite different when talking about geographical areas of operation. With the acquisition, the companies have a more homogeneous global presence both in the American, European and Asian markets.

Belden's commitment to broadcasting

Belden's entry into the segment more intensely, in addition to the manufacture of cables and connectors, began with the purchase of Telecast Fiber Systems in 2009, after Miranda in 2012, Softel in 2013, and Grass Valley in 2013, which at that time was in the hands of the investment group Francisco Partners Management LLC.

Por su parte, SAM es fruto de la unión de las empresas Snell & Wilcox y Quantel, y la adquisición de Pro-Bel.

The purchase of Snell Advanced Media by Belden comes just over six months after the departure of Tim Thorsteinson from the management of the English company citing health reasons.

It should be noted that Thorsteinson participated in the industry's large acquisition processes, such as Grass Valley by Thomson in 2002 and Belden in 2013, as well as Leitch by Harris in 2005.