Orca Interactive (AIM: ORCA) of Ra'anana, which provides IPTV middleware and applications, will be bought by Viaccess, a France Telecom subsidiary. Orca announced today that it had signed an agreement with Viaccess under which Viaccess will acquire it outright for an estimated price of $21.4 million.
Orca Interactive is part of the Emblaze (LSE: BLZ) group.
Orca said completion of the transaction was subject to approval of the transaction by the extraordinary general meeting of the company.
Viaccess is active in content protection, with conditional access and DRM solutions delivered in over 30 countries. It has 1.2 million active IPTV subscribers worldwide.
“Viaccess’s investment in Orca proves that we are standing at the brink of a new era, firmly cementing IPTV’s role in the consolidation of telecommunications services“, said Orca Interactive CEO Haggai Barel. “As a true industry pioneer, Orca Interactive has continuously led the IPTV revolution with cutting-edge technology and a flexible middleware platform designed to make next-generation TV services a reality. Today’s announcement represents a significant milestone both for Orca and for the IPTV market at large”.
In October 2004, Emblaze floated Orca Interactive on the AIM exchange at a value of £35 million (some $63 million at the time), double the value at which it bought the company four years previously.
Orca has gross assets of US$15.9 million, and made a net loss of $4.3 million in 2007.
Emblaze says that it expects to record a capital gain from this transaction of approximately $4 million for the first half of 2008. The acquisition price, which is made up of $13 million plus Orca's net cash as of the closing of the deal, equates to a value per Orca share of approximately £0.29 (approximately $0.59) . Orca shares are currently being traded at £0.21, 23.5% higher than Friday's close.
Emblaze CEO Guy Bernstein said, "The sale of Orca is yet another step in the group consolidation around its core competency. We believe that Orca's new partners are a perfect fit to take Orca to the next level"
Orca Interactive's IP video and multimedia solutions combine live TV, video on demand (VOD), personal video recording (PVR), home media and personalized services, including the latest in content discovery and user generated content, across a multi-device platform, and over the Internet through its WebTV solution.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on March 10, 2008
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