Amino Communications is to acquire the IPTV set-top box business of Swedish company Tilgin AB for just over £2.5 million. The company offers a range of high-definition devices within its Mood product line which will extend the Amino portfolio, while adding new software features across the entire range.
The acquisition will also give Amino immediate access to additional middleware solutions, such as Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks, as well as extending the customer reach. Amino expects to see combined cost savings in research and development as their set-top boxes are both based on ST Micro chips.
New features stemming from the acquisition will include picture-in-picture, whole-home connectivity and power saving capabilities.
“Tilgin IPTV is the perfect acquisition for Amino, delivering an extended product portfolio with exciting leading-edge features as well as valuable middleware partners and wider customer reach,” said Andrew Burke, chief executive of Amino, based in Cambridge, England. “The market is demanding consolidation coupled with innovation and Amino is ideally placed to deliver this elusive mix as the shape and nature of the IPTV industry evolves.”
The Amino AmiNET range of set-top boxes is used by leading service operators in over 80 countries.
Based in Kista, north of Stockholm, in Sweden, Tilgin has deployed around half a million of its IPTV set-top boxes. The company had sales of £33 million in 2007, of which IPTV contributed around 10% and made an operating loss. Tilgin will concentrate on its IP residential gateway business, where it has 30 customers in over ten countries.
“With its broad IPTV product portfolio, Amino has the reach and resources to take the IPTV business to the next level,” said Ola Berglund, the chief executive Tilgin, which was founded in 1997 as i3 Micro Technology. The Swedish company will also co-operate with Amino on sales of residential gateways.