JCA acquired by RRsat

RRsat, which originates 100 channels from its Israeli HQ and has teleports in Israel and Pennsylvania, said the deal would give the company a presence in one of the “media and broadcast centres of the world”.

RRsat chief executive Avi Cohen said: “There are two major aspects to our business: content management and content distribution.

“While the content distribution aspect involves our state-of-the-art facilities in the US and Israel, content preparation and management require a local presence working closely with our customers.

“The addition of JCA’s sophisticated local operation in London will enable RRsat to leverage local talent and provide services specifically for content preparation and content management to customers in Europe.”

JCA will be rebranded as RRsat Europe within the next few “days or weeks,” according to JCA managing director Simon Kay (pictured).

He said: “Things will remain the same for existing clients but there are plans to develop the services that are now in our family.

“The main thing is that we will be able to take content and distribute it on a global scale using RRsat’s network.”

JCA’s managing directors Simon Kay and Nick Pannaman will remain with the organisation as MDs of RRsat Europe. They will also join RRsat’s executive management team.

RRsat will pay £5.7m ($9m) in net cash for TVP Group, of which JCA is a wholly owned subsidiary.

An additional payment of £2.8m ($4.5m) will be deferred, conditional on business results including revenue growth and profitability over the next three years.

“Once we complete the integration of JCA, we plan to increase its core services and expand our global customer base and portfolio,” added Cohen.

“Our existing client base will benefit from additional sophisticated content preparation solutions.

“We plan to take advantage of the experienced local management team and their access to top tier clients in the UK and Western Europe and offer RRsat’s complete set of content management and global distribution products.”

RRsat’s 2012 purchase of US sports distribution and syndication services firm SM2 was followed by the opening of an office in Moscow earlier this year, and Cohen said the company would continue to look for further acquisitions.

“We have a strategy for growth and completing the puzzle of missing assets is achieved through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions.

“For us, M&A activity is a way of life; we are in market that we believe requires some consolidation, so M&A activity is a core competency but it’s not something we will do for the sake of it.

“We will keep looking and if an opportunity arises we will look at it seriously.”