Telstra will acquire Ooyala, a Silicon Valley-based provider of video streaming and analytics. Under the deal, Telstra will pay US$270 million to increase its ownership in Ooyala from 23% (fully diluted) to 98%. Telstra had previously invested US$61 million in Ooyala over the past two years.
Ooyala harnesses the power of big data to help broadcasters, operators and media companies build more engaged audiences and monetize video with personalized, interactive experiences for every screen. The analytics helps determine exactly which content should be presented to individual views. The streaming platform provides content management tools, fast transcoding and adaptive bit rate delivery to customized players. The company, which was founded in 2007 and is based in Mountain View, California, is forecasting revenue of US$65m for CY2014. The company has more than 330 employees worldwide and a global footprint of 135 million unique users in nearly 240 countries. Its customers include Telstra, ESPN, Univision, Telegraph Media Group, Dell, Sephora, Foxtel, NBC Universal, Comedy Central, News Corp and The Washington Post.
Ooyala Chief Executive, Jay Fulcher will continue in his current role and Ooyala will become a subsidiary of Telstra and operate as an independent business, retaining its brand, structure and management under the Global Applications and Platforms group.
Telstra Chief Executive Officer, Mr David Thodey, said Telstra’s investment and controlling stake in Ooyala would help build it into a world leading personalised video platform company.
“Ooyala enables broadcasters, operators and media organisations to deliver digital TV and video content, across any device to mass audiences, using analytics to provide recommendations, personalised content and advertising to the end user,” Mr Thodey said.
- Ooyala is headed by Jay Fulcher, who previously was CEO of Agile Software (acquired by Oracle) and served in executive roles at SAP and PeopleSoft.
