Tandberg Television to Acquire N2 Broadband

Tandberg Television has announced it plans to acquire Atlanta-based N2 Broadband, a provider of on-demand technology for the cable industry. The agreement, expected to be completed within the first quarter of 2005, is valued in the range of $110M to $130M. The two companies have agreed to a $3M mutual break-up fee if the deal falls apart.

Tandberg Television, based in Southampton, U.K. touts the deal as a move to expand its presence in the U.S. cable market while N2 expects to begin marketing its technology overseas in Europe and Asia.

"The North American market represents that largest growth opportunity for Tandberg Television's products and services over the next several years and N2 Broadband will immediately strengthen the route to market for our video compression systems into the U.S. cable market," said Eric Cooney, president and CEO of Tandberg Television. "Of equal importance is the expanding worldwide market for on-demand services such as VOD. Our pole position in European and Asian cable markets as well as our global lead in the telco IPTV segment, provides an established route to market for N2 Broadband's industry-leading software."

N2 Broadband's president and CEO, Reggie Bradford will become president of Tandberg Television Americas and the new combined North American division will be headquartered in Atlanta, with sales offices on both the East and West Coasts of the U.S. and Canada, with a total staff of 180 employees.