Thomson to acquire Grass Valley Group - Post News - Thomson Multimedia - Brief Article

Post, Feb, 2002

PARIS -- Thomson Multimedia (www.thomson-multimedia.com) has entered into an agreement to acquire Nevada City, Calif.'s Grass Valley Group, a provider of digital broadcast equipment and Internet streaming solutions. Thomson hopes the combination will aid in positioning itself as a leading provider of digital networked broadcast solutions.

Grass Valley Group manufactures hardware and software products for creating, storing, manipulating, and distributing high-quality video content. It is believed that the company's servers, switchers, routers, modular products and digital news production solutions touch nearly 80 percent of the world's television signals.

Upon completion, the acquisition will extend Thomson Broadcast's digital solution portfolio and strengthen its position as a supplier of integrated and networked broadcast solutions for content providers. Grass Valley Group had approximately $200 million in revenues for 2000. The transaction is valued at $172 million.

"There will be a significant gain in this combination for our customers in professional content creation, editing and distribution -- no matter where they are in the digital media chain," says Marc Valentin, VP of Thomson Broadcast Solutions.

"Becoming part of a global portfolio company focused on the digital media opportunity is one of the best things that could happen to the Grass Valley Group's customers and to the company itself," adds Tim Thorsteinson, president/CEO of the Grass Valley Group. "In a nutshell, it means uninterrupted product delivery accelerated research and development, and tremendous distribution and service reach."

The proposed transaction fits into the development strategy of Thomson's Digital Media Solutions (DMS), a business segment focused on business-to-business solutions for content providers, broadcasters and network operators. Last year, Thomson enlarged its broadcast activities when it acquired a majority interest in the Philips Professional Broadcast Group.