A public, US-based telecommunications equipment giant located in Georgia has acquired venture-backed Canadian company SeaWell Networks.
SeaWell Networks helps telcos and cable companies through products that enable control of multiscreen adaptive bitrate delivery (ABR), including targeted ads. (Adaptive bitrate streaming is a technique used in streaming multimedia over computer networks. It works by detecting a user’s bandwidth and CPU capacity in real time and adjusting the quality of a video stream accordingly.)
Thus, SeaWell Networks products enable the control, management and monitization of multiscreen TV.
The company has previously received investment from Northwater Capital Management, BDC Venture Capital and the MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund (IAF).
“This acquisition will create new opportunities for our employees, customers and the industry. This combination will provide the next-gen TV solutions our customers need to more quickly and cost-effectively transition to IP and multiscreen video,” said CEO Brian Collie.
Meanwhile, the company that acquired SeaWell is ARRIS Group, the telecommunications equipment manufacturing company that provides cable operators with high-speed data, video and telephony systems for homes and businesses. The company is headquartered in Suwanee, Georgia, and has offices scattered throughout the world.
In April 2013 ARRIS Group made a splash in the tech world when it acquired Motorola Mobility‘s Home unit (the former General Instrument company) from Google for $2.35 billion in cash and stock. General Instrument was a company that was founded in the 1960s, and produced semiconductors and cable television equipment for decades. Motorola Mobility, meanwhile, was Motorola’s consumer cell phone side of the business, and was purchased by Google in 2011 for $12.5 billion. Google later cut 4,000 jobs from the division and would sell its cable modem and set-top box business to ARRIS Group.
The SeaWell acquisition then comes about year after ARRIS’ “significant” acquisition of Motorola Mobility’s Home division. ARRIS will now integrate SeaWell’s adaptive bit rate (ABR) streaming technologies and talent into its Network & Cloud business.
“This acquisition further positions ARRIS to transform IP video delivery…from content creation to consumption,” said ARRIS CEO Bob Stanzione. “Combining our solutions, technologists and roadmaps promises to accelerate the delivery of the personalized TV and advertising solutions that service providers need and their consumers crave.”