Technicolor-Francisco Partners deal closes; Grass Valley begins new chapter

Technology-focused investment company Francisco Partners has closed its deal with Technicolor and finalized the acquisition of the Grass Valley Broadcast & Professional business, the broadcast technology company announced this week.

As of Jan. 1, 2011, Grass Valley began doing business as an independent company, under the trade name "Grass Valley."

Technicolor announced Dec. 23, 2010, in a separate deal that it had received a binding offer from German equity investment consultancy PARTER Capital Group to acquire the transmission business, which has operated under the Thomson Broadcast brand.

The PARTER offer includes all assets and employees of the transmission business. At the time of the announcement, Thomson Broadcast employed 291 workers in five countries. The binding offer covers the company’s entire product portfolio, including the television and radio transmitter product lines, antennas and scientific applications, as well as the associated R&D centers and sites worldwide. The offer also includes sales and customer support organizations around the world, systems activities, and the various management and support functions.

The newly announced deal with Francisco Partners establishing the independent company Grass Valley includes the camera, content repurposing, editing, master control, modular, news production, production automation, production switchers, routing, and video servers product lines. It also includes the R&D centers and factories around the world, the sales and systems activities, and customer support organization worldwide, as well as the management and administrative support functions dedicated to the business.