Sky invests in Synamedia

Sky has taken an undisclosed minority stake in Synamedia, joining fellow minority shareholder Permira funds in backing the newly independent video software provider.

Synamedia said that Sky’s investment will reinforce its position as a long-term technology partner to a growing roster of pay TV operators and media companies.

The company was formed last year from the sale of Cisco’s video processing and video solutions business to funds advised by private equity firm Permira.

Yves Padrines

Synamedia builds on more than 30 years of expertise and claims to be the largest global provider of video solutions, with more than 200 pay TV and media customers – including Sky and its parent company Comcast.

“We’ve long collaborated with the team at Synamedia to help bring great content, products and entertainment to millions of customers across Europe and this investment will help deepen our innovative partnership,” said Andrew Griffith, Sky’s group chief operating officer.

Synamedia CEO, Yves Padrines, said: “At a time of accelerated evolution in the pay TV industry, this investment is a fantastic endorsement of our product vision, R&D roadmap and service portfolio from Sky, Europe’s leading media and entertainment company.”

Synamedia’s customer base also includes companies like AT&T, beIN, Charter, Disney, Foxtel, Get, Liberty Global, OSN, Tata Sky, Verizon, Viasat and Vodafone. The company’s workforce is located across the US, UK, Israel, India, Belgium, China and Canada.