MELBOURNE, Fla. – Broadcast equipment maker Harris Corporation (which bought Leitch Technologies in 2005) has agreed to purchase Aastra Digital Video, which develops and markets video networking, encoding, decoding, and multiplexing technologies used by television broadcasters, telecommunications providers and satellite networks.
The heart of Aastra is its VideoRunner multi-service video networking system. The company has been a supplier to Harris of video networking products for the past eight years, sold under the Flexicoder and NetVX brand names.
Aastra Digital Video is based in Bridgewater, NJ, with approximately 35 employees and its customers include Turner Broadcasting, the National Football League, DIRECTV, Bell Canada, and CTV.
Aastra’s 2005 revenue was approximately US$18 million with EBITDA of US$5.7 million. The transaction is expected to be accretive to Harris fiscal year 2007 earnings per share, excluding acquisition-related charges.
"This acquisition adds to our total content delivery solutions for the broadcast industry and will enable Harris to offer networking products that transport media content over a variety of broadcast, cable, satellite, and telco networks, including those supporting new services such as IPTV and Mobile TV," said Tim Thorsteinson, president of Harris Broadcast Communications Division.
Harris is an international communications and information technology company serving government and commercial markets in more than 150 countries. With headquarters in Melbourne, Florida, the company has annual sales of over $3 billion and more than 13,000 employees.
