Ooyala management buyout
October 16, 2018
OTT, content production, and digital distribution solutions provider Ooyala and Telstra have revealed the completion of the management buyout of Ooyala. The Australian telco invested $270 million (€233m) in August 2104 to increase its ownership in Ooyala from 23 per cent (fully diluted) to 98 per cent and was in addition to the US$61 million previously invested in Ooyala over the previous two years.
Telstra announced in February 2018 that it expected to make a non-cash impairment and write down the carrying value of Ooyala to zero.
Building on the success of Ooyala under the current management team, combined with Telstra’s new focus on its Telstra2022 strategy, this transaction provides the foundation for the next phase of growth for Ooyala. Telstra will remain a “valued” go-to-market partner and customer.
Ooyala’s management team says it looks forward to continuing its “world-class” support of its customers around the globe. With Ooyala Flex Media Platform underpinning its industry-leading suite of video streaming and media logistics solutions, Ooyala powers the content supply chain of many of the biggest names in media, entertainment, telecommunications, enterprise, broadcast, and sports the world over. The company’s customers include: Audi, Chelsea FC, Dell, National Rugby League of Australia, PGA, Starhub, Sky Sports, Turner and Telstra.
Led by existing management and powered by a “talented and energised team of employees”, Ooyala expects continued revenue growth fuelled by the market adoption of Ooyala Flex Media Platform and its key capabilities focused on cross-device playback and monetisation, TV-grade live streaming, MAM-based content management, and insights driven content creation.
“The management team is excited to take on this next chapter in Ooyala’s growth,” said Jonathan Huberman, CEO of Ooyala. “We are pleased by the tremendous market reception of our flagship product, Ooyala Flex Media Platform, and how it has enabled our OVP and media logistics customers to drive supply chain efficiencies and revenue growth through automation and AI-driven insights. We will continue to invest in Ooyala Flex Media Platform to increase our market-leading position in video streaming and media logistics. In addition, leveraging our resources and in partnership with private equity investors, we are actively exploring acquisition opportunities to further accelerate Ooyala’s growth.”