The Vitec Group plc ("Vitec" or the "Group"), the international provider of products and solutions to the Broadcast and Photographic markets, is pleased to announce that it has acquired Amimon Inc., consisting primarily of its Israeli subsidiary Amimon Limited (together "Amimon").

It also announces that the Board's expectations for the year ending 31 December 2018 remain unchanged, with material EPS growth.

Acquisition and integration of Amimon

Vitec acquired Amimon on 8 November 2018 for $55.0 million (£42.3 million) in cash, with an expected total investment of $59.9 million (£46.1 million) on a cash / debt free basis, including employee retention, deal and integration costs. The total investment will be funded from Vitec's committed bank facilities.

Amimon designs and develops chipsets and modules for real-time wireless video transmission, primarily for professional filmmaking and high-end productions ("cine market").

Established in 2004, Amimon operates primarily from its headquarters in San Jose, California, and an R&D centre in Israel, where the majority of its 60 employees are based. Dr Zvi Reznic, Amimon's Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder, and certain other employees, have confirmed that they will remain with the company post acquisition.

Vitec will integrate Amimon into its Creative Solutions Division. Amimon brings extensive software, chipset design and electronics hardware development expertise, and opens up growth opportunities to develop innovative new products for adjacent markets. Amimon's Israel facility will primarily become an R&D centre of excellence for Creative Solutions.

Strategic rationale for the acquisition

The acquisition is part of Vitec's strategy to develop and grow in the wireless video market and will give Vitec access to patented core technology as well as new intellectual property.

Vitec and Amimon have had a strong customer / supplier relationship since 2012, having worked together to build a new market for professional wireless video. Amimon is the key supplier to Teradek, having developed a market-leading, exclusive and patented technology which is recognised as the industry-standard for zero delay wireless video. Amimon's technology is used in many of our Creative Solutions products, enabling very high quality, zero delay video, up to 4K resolution, to be transmitted wirelessly between cameras and monitors. This connects a director and crew to the camera in a real-time, cable-free environment, and allows fast changes on set, saving time and money.

Acquiring the core technology found within many of our Creative Solutions products will enable Vitec to become vertically integrated. This will drive growth, including the cost-effective and focused development of the next generation of highly differentiated wireless video products, enabling us to bring them to market faster. The acquisition will allow Vitec to quickly expand into the adjacent on-location sports and news market, selling wireless video products to Broadcasters and Independent Content Creators under Vitec's premium brands, using our established distribution network.

Creative Solutions will also be able to strengthen its position in the cine market by capitalising on the next generation of wireless video products and get closer to camera manufacturers through Amimon's direct relationships

Idea here is to significantly lower cost of chips for their own products and cut access to them for all competition (mostly Chinese).