Kudelski Group acquires NexGuard Labs

The Kudelski Group has acquired 100% of NexGuard Labs BV (formerly Civolution BV), a compamny specialising in digital content watermarking solutions.

This move expands the Kudelski Group’s portfolio of end-to-end content protection security solutions, enriching the existing offer to content owners and pay-TV operators.

NexGuard Labs BV, based in the Netherlands with offices in Los Angeles, New York, London, Dubai and Rennes (France), is a provider of forensic watermarking technology and solutions for protecting media content against illicit redistribution. It offers a portfolio of industry-leading digital watermarking tools to help media content owners, rights holders and distributors protect and manage their assets. The portfolio consists of digital watermarking tools for Pre-Release, Digital Cinema, B2B and B2C distribution.

Civolution was formed in October 2008 as a spin-off of Royal Philips Electronics. In August 2008, Philips Content Identification, a business unit of Philips Electronics, assumed full ownership of its joint venture Teletrax. The combined entity was spun out of Philips in October giving birth to Civolution.

In July 2009, Civolution took over the Software and Technology Solution from Thomson (Thomson STS), formerly Nextamp.

In December 2014, WPP’s Kantar Media acquired Civolution’s SyncNow audio watermarking unit supporting Audience Measurement and Second Screen synchronization applications.

Following the Kantar Media acquisition, Civolution announced the launch of two separate business units, NexGuard and Teletrax. NexGuard is the world leader in watermarking technology and solutions for protecting media content against illicit redistribution.

André Kudelski, chairman and CEO, Kudelski Group said: “the acquisition of NexGuard further strengthens our content protection offering and represents a key milestone in executing our growth strategy in security.”

Conax boosts Kudelski performance

The Kudelski Group has posted revenues of CHF895.1 million (€836.8 million) for 2014, a 7.1% increase on the previous year.

Its operating income and net incomes amounted to CHF68.1 million (+24.9%) and CHF50.4 million (+27.9%) respectively.

In its latest set of results, the group notes that the acquisition of Conax, the integration of which is fully on track, has provided both technology synergies as well as cross-selling opportunities for products like OpenTV5 connectware, Media Live multiscreen solutions and SmartDTV devices.

The group’s Integrated Digital TV (iDTV) revenues increased by 9.8% to CHF648.4 million in 2014, representing a 10.2% constant currency growth.

The European iDTV sector posted constant currency growth of 3.1%, while Southern European markets, including Italy, Spain and Portugal, started to recover following the decline of the previous years, increasing their revenue contribution from 2013.

With the addition of Conax, the group significantly strengthened its position in Scandinavia and in some key Eastern European markets.

However, the group’s Northern European markets experienced lower growth compared to the previous year, with the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands posting lower 2014 revenues.
The Americas region generated constant currency growth of 12.5%, with revenues reaching CHF274.7 million in 2014, while the Asia/Pacific and Africa region posted constant currency growth of 19.1%, reflecting strong momentum in the second half of the year.

Overall, operating income from the iDTV segment improved by 25.8%, reaching CHF71.8 million in 2014.

Kudelski and Cisco ink patent deal

Kudelski Group has signed a multi-year patent cross-license agreement with Cisco Systems, Inc. under which the companies will license their respective patent portfolios to each other with certain restrictions.

Furthermore, the parties have resolved all pending litigation between the companies and Cisco will pay Kudelski Group an up front, lump sum payment.

Joe Chernesky, senior VP of Intellectual Property and Innovation at The Kudelski Group, said: “As it has done throughout its 60+ year history, the Kudelski Group continues to invest heavily in innovation and the development of intellectual property.

“This agreement with Cisco represents further validation of our intellectual property portfolio while enabling a new area of collaboration between the two companies.”