Grass Valley to Be Acquired
A San Francisco-based private equity firm has offered to purchase Grass Valley’s Broadcast & Professional business.
A San Francisco-based private equity firm has offered to purchase Grass Valley’s Broadcast & Professional business. Francisco Partners, one of the world’s largest technology-focused private equity funds, made the offer to Grass Valley’s parent company, Technicolor. Financial terms were not immediately disclosed.
“We are excited about this opportunity, as Grass Valley’s market leadership is clearly evident,” said David Golob, partner at Francisco Partners, in a statement. “The business has an unrivalled brand identity and company heritage, a long history of innovation, team members that are dedicated to their customers’ success, and an impressive product portfolio. We are looking forward to the opportunity to work closely with Grass Valley’s management to create a company that leverages their strong entrepreneurial spirit.”
The binding offer is for 100 percent ownership of the current Grass Valley Broadcast & Professional business, which would operate as Grass Valley going forward. This includes the camera, content repurposing, editing, master control, modular, news production, production automation, routing, servers, storage, and switching product lines, including their entire product portfolios, the R&D centers and factories around the world, the sales and systems activities and customer support organization worldwide, as well as the management and administrative support functions dedicated to the business. In effect, Francisco Partners has offered to buy everything that represents what the broadcast and pro AV market historically know as Grass Valley products.
The transmission and headend businesses, which are in the process of being separated from the Grass Valley Broadcast & Professional business, are not included in the offer. Technicolor plans to sell those businesses separately.
“This is positive news for the company and our customers,” said Jeff Rosica, senior vice president and head of the Grass Valley Broadcast & Professional business, in a statement. “We are encouraged that we are taking a major step towards completing the divestiture process. Our customers worldwide will continue to receive the high quality and service that they have come to expect from Grass Valley, with continued focus on raising the bar in our industry.”
The acquisition is subject to final agreement, regulatory approval, and notification requirements. The transaction is expected to be completed before the end of 2010.
