Cisco Scooping Up BNI Video For $99 Million
Cisco's at it again. With "at it" meaning "buying companies." While the company's killing of Flip Video will be the one that everyone remembers from 2011, they're also picking up BNI Video. Headquartered in Boxborough, Mass., BNI Video supplies service providers with two major video products that offer video back-office and content delivery network (CDN) analytic capabilities. The acquisition will purportedly advance the capabilities of Cisco's Videoscape TV platform, which allows service providers to deliver compelling video experiences to any device over any Internet Protocol (IP) network.
Marthin De Beer, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco's Emerging Business Group, said this about the announcement: "Cisco is committed to working with our service provider customers to deliver next-generation IP-based video experiences across devices. Service providers globally are embracing our Videoscape vision, and today with the acquisition of BNI Video, we are augmenting our Videoscape platform and giving customers a clear migration path to Videoscape."
"As a founding investor in BNI Video, Comcast Ventures recognized the potential for this technology to play a critical role in advancing video experiences for Comcast's customers," said Tony Werner, chief technology officer, Comcast. "With the combined expertise in IP video systems, Cisco and BNI Video offer service providers a compelling software and infrastructure platform to efficiently deliver video content to multiple devices."
Upon the close of the acquisition, BNI Video employees will be integrated into Cisco's Service Provider Video Technology Group. Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will pay approximately $99 million in cash and retention-based incentives in exchange for all shares of BNI Video. The acquisition is subject to various standard closing conditions and is expected to be complete in the second quarter of Cisco's fiscal year 2012.
Marthin De Beer, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco's Emerging Business Group, said this about the announcement: "Cisco is committed to working with our service provider customers to deliver next-generation IP-based video experiences across devices. Service providers globally are embracing our Videoscape vision, and today with the acquisition of BNI Video, we are augmenting our Videoscape platform and giving customers a clear migration path to Videoscape."
"As a founding investor in BNI Video, Comcast Ventures recognized the potential for this technology to play a critical role in advancing video experiences for Comcast's customers," said Tony Werner, chief technology officer, Comcast. "With the combined expertise in IP video systems, Cisco and BNI Video offer service providers a compelling software and infrastructure platform to efficiently deliver video content to multiple devices."
Upon the close of the acquisition, BNI Video employees will be integrated into Cisco's Service Provider Video Technology Group. Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will pay approximately $99 million in cash and retention-based incentives in exchange for all shares of BNI Video. The acquisition is subject to various standard closing conditions and is expected to be complete in the second quarter of Cisco's fiscal year 2012.
