Kudelski unveils vision for Conax acquisition

Swiss conditional access and interactive TV technology provider Kudelski will continue to run Norway-based Conax as an independent unit within the Kudelski Group and Conax will continue to be based in Oslo, according to Conax chairman and CEO André Kudelski.

“The Kudelski Group will continue to run Conax as a company within the Kudelski Group, with [Conax CEO] Morten Solbakken reporting to me. The two management teams will jointly define a strategy and a structure leading to a close alignment of the two organizations over the coming weeks, while keeping the best interest of our customers in mind,” said Kudelski in a Q&A interview on the acquisition published by the company and made available to press.

“Conax will continue to be run from Oslo by the existing management team. The Conax team runs a tight ship and is well serving their customers and delivering innovative new solutions to market. We will do everything we can to support the team in continuing to do so,” he said.

Kudelski said that the current office locations would be maintained and that synergies would be examined on a “case-by-case basis”. He said the Conax brand would not disappear but that its “widely recognized” corporate identity would be maintained.

Kudelski said that Conax customers would have access to complementary products from Kudelski’s portfolio, such as its SmarDTV conditional access modules, Kudelski Security services, OpenTV middleware and the Nagra MediaLive OTT service platform.

He said the market was seeing increasing demand for pre-integrated solutions combining conditional access, mideleware, set-top boxes and multiscreen solutions.

In the same Q&A, Solbakken said that Conax wold continue to actively develop its technology to serve existing customers and win new ones.

“Our technologies are complementary, and one will not replace the other. The whole premise of the acquisition was to add to Nagra’s existing portfolio of CAS solutions,” he said.

“Together, we will actually have more to offer to our respective customers, and where there are product or partnership synergies with the Nagra portfolio, we will look at what makes the most sense over the long-term to better serve our customers and maximize the success of the group.”

Nagra will exhibit at ANGA COM in Hall 10.2, stand E11. Conax will exhibit on stand K21.