Espial signs agreement to acquire ANT

Espial today announced that it has entered into a co-operation agreement pursuant to which Espial has offered to acquire all of the outstanding shares of ANT plc in exchange for all cash consideration of £0.205 per outstanding share. The Offer values the issued ordinary share capital of ANT at approximately £5 million.  ANT’s board of directors has announced its support of the acquisition and has recommended that shareholders accept the offer.  Espial has already received irrevocable undertakings to vote in favour of the acquisition from holders of 47% of ANT’s outstanding shares.  The acquisition is expected to close in Q1, 2013 pending receipt of necessary shareholder, court, regulatory and other customary approvals.

“Multiscreen video services on set-top boxes, smart TVs, tablets, PCs and smart phones are quickly becoming the new expectation for today’s consumers. Delivering a superior user experience across these devices is a critical element to the success of TV service providers” said Jaison Dolvane, CEO of Espial. “The acquisition of ANT provides Espial with the increased scale, resources and depth of experience to extend our HTML5 market leadership. ANT provides rich expertise in delivering HTML5 user interfaces and applications as well as delivering complex vertically integrated client software solutions. We believe the acquisition of ANT will extend our capabilities to establish Espial as a clear market leader as TV service providers aggressively move to IP video delivery. We’re excited about this combination and are committed to continue working with ANT’s existing customers and partners to ensure their ongoing success”

Espial believes the combined company operations will provide strong synergies including:

• Increased revenue and customer base.
• Increased scale and resources to deliver rich HTML5 user experiences and integrated clients across set-top boxes and multi-screen devices.
• Expanded customer footprint in Europe, North America and Asia including   major TV operators, set-top box manufacturers and Smart TV manufacturers.
• Additional depth of intellectual property including client and user experience products, technologies and patents.
• Increased presence of European operations.

“The TV market has continuously evolved to bring an ever richer set of video services to consumers over managed networks and the open Internet to a wide range of consumer devices” said Royston Hoggarth, Chairman of ANT. “The combination of Espial and ANT provides the increased scale and HTML5 expertise for Espial to further its leadership position in this very valuable market.   We believe the combination of these two market leaders will benefit and help intercept the growth of this market”.