Advanced Television

Netgem merges with Glowria

December 11, 2007

Netgem has acquired the shares of institutional investors in Glowria, the leading French Internet DVD rental and a video on demand services operator.

Glowria has up to now been financed by those investors; Seventure (Natixis Group), Crédit Agricole Private Equity and Mousse Partners. Through this acquisition, Netgem and Glowria will offer their customers and partners global solutions for the currently most attractive developments of the digital television i.e : VoD, high definition and DTT.

Joseph Haddad, CEO of Netgem, stated: “It is clear that video on demand is taking off in France and that users (80 per cent) are every day more inclined to purchase movies from their television set. By combining our set-top box with Glowria's video service platform, we will be able to offer innovations to consumers in terms of ergonomics and uses. This operation will allow us to reduce integration costs, improve our reactivity and offer subscribers greater security for their content.”

Eric Caen, CEO of Glowria, explained: “Both companies have the same current customers and prospective partners. Furthermore, the presence of Netgem in the Uk From now on, our customers can access to a global service with a single expertise base for the launch of their cross-platform VOD offer.”

The deal values Glowria at around E18m, and will be financed by the issue of new Netgem shares. Glowria shareholders will own about 14 per cent of Netgem.

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