Vislink buys Mobile Viewpoint for $18.3 million

Vislink, a player in the capture, delivery and management of high quality, live video and associated data in the media & entertainment, law enforcement and defense markets, announced it has closed on an $18.3 million (€15.5 million) acquisition of Mobile Viewpoint. The deal is comprised of a €14.8 million stock purchase agreement and the assumption and payment of €700,000 in intercompany debt.

A subsidiary of Triple IT Corporate B.V., Mobile Viewpoint is headquartered in The Netherlands, with offices in Dubai and Mexico City. It is an innovator in mobile live streaming solutions, including 5G & bonded cellular and AI-based technologies for news teams, TV production companies, outside broadcast facilities, security and public safety agencies.

The new acquisition will enable Vislink to fulfill its strategic aim of providing a portfolio of live video acquisition, contribution and distribution solutions that meet the demanding needs of media, enterprise, defense and government organizations. Vislink and its customers will benefit from the ability to address the most transformative trends in today’s live video market, such as:

Live internet video traffic is growing fast: from 2016 to 2021, there was a 15-fold increase in live video internet traffic (71.9% CAGR);

The acceleration towards cloud-based remote production;

The increasing demand for enhanced video content formats such as 4K, 8K, and 360-degree video;

The proliferation of new video transport capable networks such as 5G and Starlink.

When discussing the timing and strategic rationale for this acquisition, Mickey Miller, CEO of Vislink, said, “Mobile Viewpoint provides us with innovative technologies and solutions that, combined with Vislink’s capabilities, will enable our customers to acquire and deliver video over any preferred public or private network. This presents a tremendous growth opportunity for us as 5G and other new networks, along with machine learning, are about to revolutionize how video is produced and transported. This acquisition means that we can now make the most of these transformative live video trends and bring high-quality live production to events that were historically economically challenging to produce like amateur and semi-pro athletics. Mobile Viewpoint also brings us very exciting AI-driven automated production and camera solutions, as well as a pioneering development team that has a history of being first to market with solutions that make a real difference, including support for multi-camera/REMI production, H.265, 5G and Starlink.”

The Mobile Viewpoint acquisition will provide Vislink with solutions that combine with Vislink’s existing solution set to make its Connected Edge video transport concept of utilizing ubiquitous IP networks and cloud-scale compute across 5G, WiFi6, Mesh and COFDM-enabled networks a reality. The Vislink and Mobile Viewpoint Connected Edge solutions will leverage IP networks to provide their customers low latency, high-capacity ultrafast live video transport that can utilize AI to automate workflows. With this acquisition, Vislink will have all the hardware and software solutions needed to acquire, produce, contribute and deliver video over all private and public networks. These solutions include:

Live video encoding, stream adaptation, decode and production solutions

Remote production workflows

Wireless cameras

AI-driven automated production

Ability to contribute video over:

Bonded cellular (3G and 4G)

Satellite

Fiber

Emerging networks, including 5G and Starlink

Michel Bais, Managing Director of Mobile Viewpoint, said, “It is exciting that Mobile Viewpoint will now be part of delivering Vislink Connected Edge solutions. Being part of a larger entity will enable us to accelerate our innovative product roadmap. It also opens up the military, government and American markets for us. It’s been a fascinating and rewarding journey over the last ten years, but the time is right to join with Vislink to ensure we continue to excel and be first to market with transformative solutions. With almost zero overlap in solutions and markets, together, Vislink and Mobile Viewpoint will be much more than the sum of their parts.”