Civolution acquires Thomson STS watermarking business

In its continuing effort to shed cost, Thomson has sold its Software & Technology Solutions (STS) watermarking business to Civolution, a provider of technology and services for identifying, managing and monetizing media content, based in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Although financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, Thomson will become a shareholder in Civolution.

Civolution said it would add the newly acquired technology to its portfolio of content identification and tracking technologies to make its products appealing to a wider customer base.

Civolution, which was formed in 2008 as a spin-off from Philips Royal Electronics, acquired Teletrax — a provider of broadcast advertising verification services — last year. Company CEO Alex Terpstra said that the goal is to become a secure and trusted player in the industry.

Thomson said it continues to be committed to the content identification market and has entered into a technology partnership with Civolution to develop new solutions for monetizing content.

Prime Technology Ventures (PTV), Civolution’s main investor, said it approved of the acquisition and would provide the necessary funding to grow the company as it develops new content identification technology and services targeted at the media industry.

See Civolution at IBC2009 in Stand 5.B18.