EVS acquires Axon
May 4, 2020
In a move that it says complements its live production solution portfolio and strategically expands its global footprint, live video technology specialist EVS is to acquire broadcast and media network infrastructure specialist Axon in a deal valued at €10.5 million.
With development centres in the Netherlands and the UK, and more than 80 team members, Axon has a rich 30-year history of technology innovation. The company has an international presence in the live broadcast infrastructure market, including mobile trucks and data centres, and a product portfolio that complements EVS’ existing live production offering.
In early 2020, EVS’s leadership team revealed the PLAYForward programme, a global company growth strategy that identified the importance of developing a broader offering of modular and flexible IP infrastructure.
Integrating Axon’s product portfolio will allow EVS to offer customers the most extensive live production infrastructure on the market, enabling optimised resource management, greater scalability and faster deployment across multiple sites for remote live operations. It will also enable EVS customers to implement turnkey solutions to smoothly migrate their infrastructure towards IP and remote production-based workflows.
According to EVS, the acquisition, the largest in the company’s history, will position it as the only technology company able to provide a comprehensive modern media infrastructure solution that includes advanced IP processing, SDI/IP conversion, SDN-based control and monitoring, as well as UHD-4K and IP multiviewer.
It suggests that the combination of the EVS Score Master SDN IP orchestrator with Axon’s Cerebrum control and monitoring system, Neuron IP stream processing platform and the extensive Synapse modular infrastructure platform, will provide a scalable and redundant end-to-end solution to empower customers everywhere.
The deal also allows EVS to further expand its global footprint and leverage its international presence to accelerate the reach of Axon’s expertise and technology. Additionally, EVS will benefit from Axon’s extensive relationships with channel partners, while also broadening the reach of its industry-leading product portfolio to different distribution channels.
“We’re extremely excited about the opportunities this acquisition will provide us and our customers over the coming months and years,” declared EVS CEO Serge Van Herck. “Axon’s strong broadcast reputation and expertise, combined with our shared customer service-focused philosophy, make this marriage a perfect fit. It will enable us to deliver the most comprehensive media infrastructure solutions on the market.”
“This deal offers a major growth opportunity for both businesses, bringing together two innovative and proven product portfolios to form a unique end-to-end offering,” added Michiel Van Duijvendijk, Axon CEO. “We’re looking forward to joining the EVS team and working together to provide our customers with all the tools they need to power their journey towards IP-based media production.”
“In Axon, we’ve found an ideal partner,” commented Benoit Quirynen, EVS’ SVP Strategy. “Its products match our vision of a centralized control model with distributed scalable resources. The company’s in-house expertise in FPGA and broadcast infrastructure, as well as other operational models, perfectly complement our research and development processes.”
“Our merger with EVS is a unique combination in the industry,” suggested Peter Schut, Axon CTO. “With no overlapping products we will achieve maximum synergies. Our established Synapse modular infrastructure range has a proven track record in the most demanding applications, and the recently introduced Neuron Platform, the world’s first true Network Attached Processor designed for real time IP workflows, are perfect additions to EVS’s product range. Combined with Cerebrum, our popular, powerful and flexible control system, this adds the overarching control layer over both companies’ products. I can see a fantastic shared future for both companies.”
The Axon brand will be absorbed into EVS over the coming weeks and its product portfolio will be integrated into EVS’s global solution offering. The objective is to integrate Axon team members and to invest further in their technology and market expertise.
The value of the transaction is set at €10.5 million, plus an earn-out up to a maximum of €2.5 million. The acquisition will be paid by cash and debt.