Israeli chip company Amimon has been sold for $55 million to UK-based Vitec. The acquisition price is slightly more than the amount Amimon had raised ($53.6 million). The main investors in the company are the Walden, Evergreen and Cedar funds, along with Motorola Solutions.
Amimon is one of the world's most prominent wireless video transmission chip companies. Its technology facilitates high-quality wireless video transmission in real time. It is in use at most of the professional video companies, chiefly for producing professional films in Hollywood. In recent years it has also developed technology for drone video, including a drone for filming races called Falcore, on which a high-quality video camera is installed.
Vitec provides services to the broadcasting and film-making market. It is traded on the London Stock Exchange. Apart from Amimon's technology, the acquisition also brings to Vitec significant talent. Vitec plans to leave Amimon's development center in Israel in its present format. Co-founder and CTO Zvi Reznic is joining Vitec. Amimon has been a supplier to Vitec since 2012.
Vitec CEO Stephen Bird said that his company was Amimon's "natural home", adding, "Amimon is the technology of choice for wireless equipment used in the cine market. This acquisition opens up the exciting opportunity for Vitec to drive growth by taking wireless technology into adjacent markets, developing innovative new products to give our customers greater flexibility in image capture and content creation."
"We know the business well, use their technology in our market-leading Teradek and SmallHD products, and we are uniquely placed to access cost synergies through integration with our existing capabilities. As well as accelerating the group's stated objective to achieve mid-teen operating margins, the acquisition is expected to enhance earnings per share from 2019."
Amimon was founded in 2004 by Reznic and Noam Geri. Its CEO is Ram Ofir. It employees 60 people, with a headquarters in San Jose, California and a development center in Ra'anana, as well as offices in Tokyo, Taipei, and Shenzhen. Fourteen years since its founding, Amimon has so far failed to become profitable. According to Vitec's notice to the London Stock Exchange, Amimon posted a loss of $700,000 in 2017 on revenue of $18.6 million.
In 2012, Amimon laid off 30% of its workforce, after changing its business focus from development of chipsets for home video transmission to the professional market.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on November 11, 2018
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