Grass Valley acquires PubliTronic, moves into playout

Video technology company Grass Valley has acquired Netherlands-based playout technology provider PubliTronic for an undisclosed sum.

PubliTronic, which focuses on the European market, has an installed base of over 800 on-air channels around the world. Grass Valley said that it and Francisco Partners, the investment company that acquired the company last year, had targeted integrated playout as part of its expansion strategy.

“When we decided to expand our playout offerings to include an integrated approach, we had a choice: do it on our own or invest through an acquisition,” said Alain Andreoli, president and CEO of Grass Valley.  “As we learned more about PubliTronic’s technology and people, it became very clear that a combination of our talents and resources could allow us to offer innovative and compelling products to our customers quickly. This second acquisition this year after Evolution, exemplifies our strategy of entering fast growing, new segments to take full advantage of all opportunities, as it presented a key growth opportunity for the K2 server family and Grass Valley.”

Grass Valley’s new K2 Edge multichannel automated playout system is based on PubliTronic’s technology. The single rack-unit Linux-based platform comes in three versions: K2 Edge Express, for entry level channels with minimal graphics needs; K2 Edge Pro, for main-line channels with more sophisticated graphics such as picture-in-picture; and K2 Edge Elite systems, which offer switching for up to four HD sources and multichannel 2D and 3D graphics complete with DVE moves including credit squeeze. The K2 Edge integrated playout solution offers options including full redundancy, with an integrated channel starting at US$25,000 (€18,000), according to the company.