SeaChange Goes Dutch for VoD Smarts

SeaChange International Inc. (Nasdaq: SEAC) has splashed out an initial €25.5 million (US$36.5 million) to buy Dutch video software company eventIS Group B.V.

Eindhoven-based eventIS provides cable and telecom operators (mostly in Europe) with software that manages linear TV and video-on-demand (VoD) metadata, the information included in a content stream that enables interactive services like channel selection, pause, and replay.

According to SeaChange, the Dutch company has about 70 staff, generated revenues of about $13 million in 2008, and is profitable. Its customers include the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) , BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA), Germany's Kabel BW GmbH & Co. , Hong Kong Cable Television, Singapore's StarHub , T-Online International AG , pan-European cable operator UPC Broadband , and Virgin Media Inc. (Nasdaq: VMED).

The software firm has generally teamed up with hardware vendors, including Harmonic Inc. (Nasdaq: HLIT) and Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) as well as SeaChange, to win deals. (See Kabel BW Picks Harmonic and StarHub Picks Moto for VOD.)

SeaChange, which has been stressing its video management capabilities of late, is set to reveal more details about the deal when it announces its second-quarter results later today. (See SeaChange Joins Video Management Fray.)

— Ray Le Maistre, International News Editor, Light Reading