In a deal that expands its video software expertise and market share, Espial on Friday (August 19) said it has closed its acquisition of Arris’s Whole Home Solution platform.
RELATED: Espial Swings Deal for Arris’s Whole Home Solution
Terms and conditions of the deal were not disclosed, but Ottawa, Canada-based Espial said in June that it expects the acquisition to add $7.7 million annual revenues as it moves ahead on a plan to spur growth with “video-as-a-service” offerings.
Arris and Espial said they will collaborate on integration and co-marketing activities, and are creating a reseller agreement. Arris is now Espial’s preferred partner for gateways, but Espial is free to work with other hardware partners.
The deal also covers WHS’s infrastructure, client and server software products, a development and operations team primarily located in Kirkland, Wash., and a network operations center and two WHS cloud data center operations.
Espial also announced that Ron Miller will transition from Arris to lead the business as general manager.
The deal effectively transfers some key video software expertise to Espial from Arris, the world’s largest maker of set-top boxes -- , a position established through its acquisition of U.K.-based set-top maker Pace plc. in January, and its purchase of Motorola Home in April 2013.
Arris’s WHS originated from its $20 million acquisition of the Digeo set-top and software business from Paul Allen in 2009. MSOs that have deployed Arris’s WHS include Shaw Communications, WideOpenWest, Buckeye CableSystem, EastLink, Comporium, Consolidated Communications and Service Electric Cable TV.
Espial has previously said it will support current roadmaps, and look to accelerate future product roadmaps, for more than 40 service providers that use WHS in the U.S., Canada and Latin America.
Espial CEO Jaison Dolvane said when the deal was announced that there are more than 2 million boxes deployed that are powered by Arris’s WHS platform. He said the growth plan includes expanding the reach of WHS at existing customers, upselling others, and selling and deploying the offering to new customers.
"Espial gains a broad base of new customer relationships and further scales our world-class integration, operations, and software development teams,” Dolvane said in a statement.
The agreement will pit Espial against others that are looking to help MVPDs transition to IP video and next-gen video services, Evolution Digital, for example, is targeting that opportunity with its eVUE-TV platform. Comcast, meanwhile, is trying to syndicate and license its X1 platform. Cox Communications and Shaw Communications are already on board.
