In an effort to further accelerate the adoption of streaming media on the
Internet, RealNetworks announced today it
acquired Vivo Software, Inc., the
Waltham, MA-based developer of streaming media creation tools.
Under the purchase transaction, RealNetworks reports that all outstanding
shares of Vivo will be exchanged for 1.1 million new RealNetworks shares
valued at $17.1 million. After the acquisition is completed, the company
said the new shares will comprise 3.4% of the total 32 million shares
outstanding.
RealNetworks said it expects a significant part of the purchase price to be
written off as in-process research and development, and does not expect the
acquisition to have an impact on the company’s overall financial results
this year.
Under the acquisition, RealNetworks acquires Vivo’s technology,
intellectual property, and customer base, with key Vivo personnel joining
RealNetworks as part of the deal.
“The streaming media market is growing at a phenomenal rate. Having tools
that make it easier to create and publish streaming media content is crucial
to further fuel that growth,” said Rob Glaser, founder and CEO, RealNetworks,
Inc. “Vivo has done a great job developing world-class, easy-to-use streaming
media tools such as VivoActive 2.0 and developing the market for HTTP
streaming.”
“RealNetworks acquisition of Vivo’s technology is a significant step in our
efforts to provide content creators with a broad range of the most powerful
tools to produce streaming media content and the broadest choice of hosting
platforms. We are committed to both supporting Vivo’s current Web site and
customer bases and providing smooth integration and upgrade paths into the
rest of RealNetworks product lines.”
