Swiss conditional access firm Kudelski Group is restructuring its business to save costs and further focus on converging digital TV and internet technologies.
The restructure will see the group streamline its management structure, cut around 270 jobs,…
Swiss conditional access firm Kudelski Group is restructuring its business to save costs and further focus on converging digital TV and internet technologies.
The restructure will see the group streamline its management structure, cut around 270 jobs, spin off its Nagra Audio unit, and implement a cost-cutting programme that it claims will save it CHF90m (US$102m) a year.
According to a company announcement, Nagra Audio, which develops portable digital recorders and products for the Hi-Fi sector, will be taken over by the Kudelski family from the beginning of next year, so that it can “focus on high potential activities reaching a critical mass”. A company spokesman declined to disclose financial details, except to say that Kudelski has not hired outside advisers.
Essentially, the group is aiming to reinforce its core media content protection businesses, catering for the increasing trend towards more integrated networks.
But the move also comes as the Eurozone crisis continues to impact several regions where Kudelski operates.
“The group has initiated this strategic review in the context of a global and sustainable evolution of content distribution technologies and a new balance between developed and emerging economies in the world,” the company said in a statement on 31 October.
As part of the cost-cutting measures, Kudelski expects to slash 270 of its current 3,000 staff, with Switzerland facing about a third of the headcount reduction. Furthermore, the group will simplify its management structure from 1 January 2012, when its board will hold just four members: CEO André Kudelski, CFO Mauro Saladini, COO Pierre Roy and Alex Osadzinski, EVP for strategy and business development.
The streamlining will also bring the group’s R&D, production and support divisions under a single Digital TV umbrella.
Kudelski claims that its restructuring will free up “sufficient resources” to invest in new opportunities. A spokesman told SatelliteFinance that there are no specific acquisitions in the pipeline at the moment, but it will “continue to have an opportunistic approach in this field”.
In addition, the group announced the launch of a new Cybersecurity unit, which for the first time will offer its content protection services to third parties outside the pay-TV sector. These services will be marketed on a global basis to companies with internet security and privacy protection demands.
On 3 October, Kudelski announced it had acquired the subscriber information service (SIS) platform of Canadian tech firm Sigma Systems for an undisclosed sum.
Kudelski said it sees the SIS unit as an essential part of its strategy to provide turnkey advanced advertising solutions, enabling service providers to aggregate disparate sources of customer information into a single view. Its advertising solutions are based on products manufactured by TV middleware developer OpenTV, which was fully acquired by Kudelski in 2009, and following the restructuring will also come under its Digital TV unit.
Credit Suisse acted as financial adviser to Kudelski for its 2009 takeover, while UBS Securities advised OpenTV.
