DURHAM, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SMT (SportsMEDIA Technology Corporation), today announced it has acquired Jacksonville, Fla.-based Information and Display Systems, LLC, (IDS), a leading global provider of technology solutions for the sports industry. This strategic acquisition merges two highly respected and established technology companies who together have more than 50 years of combined industry experience. SMT is a premier provider of live data and graphics integrations products and services to broadcasters of high-end live sports events. IDS is a premier provider of live in-stadium, event scoring, statistics and display products and services to sports organization and high-end sports event presenters.
In September of 2010, SMT raised growth capital funding from Los Angeles, Calif.-based Vicente Capital Partners (VCP) and began exploring growth through strategic acquisition. The ideal strategic partner for SMT would: (1) open new markets for SMT products and services; (2) add additional products and services to the current SMT product mix; and (3) assist SMT in extending its geographic footprint from the U.S. into Europe, Asia and Australia. In June 2011, IDS needed to recapitalize its corporate structure and was actively looking for a strategic partner. SMT and IDS began talks in the last quarter of 2011 that ultimately resulted in the IDS board approving SMT’s proposal to wholly acquire IDS.
“SMT and IDS combined as one company, with its inherent synergies, will prove to be greater than the sum of the two companies apart,” said SMT President and CEO Gerard J. Hall. “This will be one of those rare and elusive strategic partnerships where one plus one really does equal three.”
Key characteristics of the transaction include: (1) SMT will operate IDS as a wholly owned business unit of SMT; (2) Gerard J. Hall, SMT founder and CEO, will become CEO over both companies and will retain the title of President of SMT in Durham, N.C.; (3) Rallis Pappas, IDS co-founder, will retain the title of President of IDS in Jacksonville, Fla.; (4) IDS will continue to operate intact from Florida as an IDS-branded division of SMT; (5) IDS personnel, senior management and functional departments will remain in place.
SMT’s acquisition of IDS opens new markets for SMT’s current products and services by IDS providing SMT (1) access to a new sector of live event scoring and display systems; (2) better integration opportunities to the official scoring systems for golf, tennis, NBA, NHL, UFC and the Dew Tour; and (3) a toehold into Europe, Australia and Asia.
SMT’s acquisition of IDS opens new markets for IDS’s current products and services by SMT providing IDS (1) greater access to live event broadcasters; (2) access to markets outside of sports as SMT expands outside of sports; (3) a stronger financial and corporate structure from which to operate; and (4) access to growth capital for new product development.
SMT and IDS will share knowledge bases and exploit the best practices of each company’s respective creative, engineering, research and development, and operations departments to better serve the combined company’s clients. SMT and IDS will leverage their formerly independent research and development departments to ensure that the next generation of SMT and IDS products and services will exhibit unprecedented levels of integration between live data creation and live data presentation across all screen sizes and platforms, whether in-stadium, broadcast, Web or mobile devices.
“SMT and IDS both have such a dedicated and talented team of employees and the mutual goal for the combined company is that together we become more scalable, more robust and more capable, from a resource perspective, so we may better serve our clients now and in the future,” said IDS President Rallis Pappas. “SMT and IDS are very excited that this transaction moves us further down the path to that noble end.”
SMT is a leading provider of graphics, statistics and video enhancement software and services for live television sports and entertainment broadcasts. SMT products play an integral role in the presentation of the world’s most popular events, including the Super Bowl, NBC Sunday Night Football, the Indianapolis 500, March Madness, the Triple Crown, NASCAR, NBA on TNT and NHL.
IDS specializes in the in-stadium creation, collection, distribution, storage and presentation of sports content during live sports events for event presenters and sports organizations. IDS scoring and statistics systems and display boards and systems are on-site at such prestigious events as Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, Roland Garros, the Australian Open, the Olympic Games in London, The Open Championship, the Masters, the PGA Tour and the Dew Tour. IDS serves sports organizers, governing bodies and sponsors such as NBA, WTA Tour, WNBA, PGA Tour, UFC, USTA, USGA, CrossFIT, NHL, IBM and Sony Ericsson.
“We have at a single stroke doubled the size of SMT,” said Hall. “I am very excited about the potential for leveraging the talents and resources of this combined company to achieve marketplace, technology and financial goals that would have been beyond the reach of either company operating separately.”
Financial terms of the transaction are undisclosed.
About SMT
Founded in 1988, SMT pioneered the first real-time scoring and wireless data system. SMT continues to develop and deliver customized products and services to enhance the production quality and viewers' experience of sports and entertainment events. The company has won 20 Emmy awards since 1993. SMT’s solutions have been used at the most prestigious live events including the Kentucky Derby , the Super Bowl, NBC Sunday Night Football, the Indianapolis 500, the NCAA Final Four, ESPN Summer and Winter X Games, NBA on TNT, NASCAR and NHL. SMT’s customers include all major broadcast television companies as well as several regional and specialty sports networks. For more information, visit smt.com.
SMT’s premier products and services include:
(1) Autograph® (tickers, race crawls, clock-and-score
systems, Sport CG);
(2) DMX® Switchboard (live data
distribution feeds for announcers and on-air graphics);
(3) SMART®
(virtual insertion products such as the yellow first-down line and
virtual signs);
(4) Telestration Systems (circles, lines, head
shots and Digital Zoom to analyze plays);
(5) IsoTrack®
(image tracking for motorsports, horse racing and cycling);
(6) GOTO®
Board (talent touch screen for displaying social media, graphics,
data and video);
(7) Help Desk and Remote Services (on-site
operators, 24/7 help desk).
About IDS
IDS, a division of SMT, provides technology services and solutions for the sports industry worldwide. Founded in 1984, IDS began by providing the first electronic graphic display boards used at the Nabisco Grand Prix men’s professional tennis tour. Since that time, IDS has expanded by successfully identifying similar opportunities to utilize technology to help our clients such as Wimbledon, US Open, Olympics and Australian Open, better meet their goals, in many cases with technology IDS has pioneered. To learn more, go to ids-sports.com.
IDS’ premier products and services include:
(1) Scoring and Results Systems (live score and results,
information storage and real-time data distribution to client systems);
(2)
Video Display Production (video walls that display graphic animations,
recording, editing and playback, ability to switch between live and
recorded sources);
(3) TV Graphics Services (including graphic
design, operators and commentator systems);
(4) Web Site Services
(design, development, maintenance and hosting including real-time
results interfacing and web site publishing);
(5) Speed Measurement
Systems (used at the four Grand Slams, motorsports, soccer, ice hockey,
lacrosse, volleyball and cricket);
(6) Cause-nFX (virtual sets and
graphics);
(7) Technical Support (24/7 help desk).
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