Brightcove acquires Unicorn Media for $49M

Brightcove Inc., a leading global provider of cloud services for video, announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all the assets of Unicorn Media, a leading provider of cloud video ad insertion technology. Based on a $14.00 price per share of Brightcove common stock as specified in the purchase agreement, the transaction is valued at approximately $49 million. Under the terms of the agreement, the purchase price consists of approximately 2.9 million shares of Brightcove stock and approximately $9.0 million of cash used to pay transaction and other expenses of Unicorn Media.
Unicorn Media has pioneered an innovative cloud-based ad insertion and video stitching service called Once which addresses the limitations of traditional online video ad technology. The Once service reduces or eliminates the need for platform-specific ad technology and makes it possible for digital media companies to reliably deliver live or on-demand video with dynamically customized programming and targeted advertising to the maximum range of devices. The product will be rebranded as the Brightcove Once.
“We plan to integrate Once technologies with future versions of Brightcove Video Cloud and Brightcove Zencoder,” Said David Mendel, CEO Brightcove. “Over time, Video.js and other Brightcove Web players and native player SDKs will integrate with OnceUX technologies to support instrumented playback of Once streams. We will be able to offer the most comprehensive suite of cloud services for delivering and monetizing online video content to the broadest range of devices. We will continue to lead the market with the most powerful and flexible technology for cross-platform, customizable video players.”
Leading digital media organizations, including ESPN, NBC News and The Weather Channel rely on Once to take advantage of monetization opportunities across a wide range of devices and screens and deliver a smooth end user experience that rivals or surpasses traditional television. In addition, a number of leading media companies are already using both Brightcove and Unicorn Media services in a complementary fashion. The combined company will be able to offer top media properties unmatched audience reach, monetization potential, and consumer experience for their online video initiatives.
Mendels discusses the strategy behind the acquisition, “Unicorn Media is part of a larger strategic initiative to increase our focus on delivering unbeatable value for television broadcasters, programmers, and distributors worldwide. With this acquisition came a revamped leadership team at Brightcove, utilizing and appointing several executives from Unicorn Media to its new parent company. Bill Rinehart, founder and CEO of Unicorn Media, will work closely with Anil in the role of SVP, Market Development for Media, reporting to me. Bill is a longtime industry veteran with a wealth of experience that will greatly benefit our leadership team.”
Other leadership transitions include:

  • AJ McGowan, CTO at Unicorn Media, will become Chief Technology Officer
  • Jon Corley, Chief Product Officer at Unicorn Media, will become our SVP of Product & Operations
  • Chuck Parker, Chief Revenue Officer at Unicorn Media, will become Vice President of Media Sales
  • David Morel, Chief Strategy officer at Unicorn Media, will become VP of Customer Success

The good news is that Brightcove will continue to operate in Tempe an the once Unicorn Media HQ will become another Southwest R&D center for Brightcove.
David Mendels expresses, “With Unicorn Media now part of Brightcove, we have more advanced technology, a stronger workforce, and more market momentum than ever before. We’re looking forward to great things in 2014.”
Learn more about Unicorn Media / Brightcove here.