After putting $61 million into the business in two years, Telstra has upped its shareholding to 98 per cent of Ooyala.
Last year’s ‘toe in the water’ with the Californian video streaming and analytics company bought 23 per cent.
Now the Australian telco is putting in a further $270 million for almost all of the remaining shares, with ambitions to build a personalised cloud-based TV and video platform. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed in the next 60 days.
Ooyala will become a subsidiary of Telstra, and will operate as an independent business under existing management led by chief executive Jay Fulcher. The Ooyala brand stays, and so do the Silicon Valley headquarters.
The companies say the investment makes Ooyala one of the best-capitalised and most comprehensive video and analytics technology companies in the world. Fulcher says Telstra can provide the necessary and ongoing investments and business relationships to build on Ooyala’s leadership in personalised video: “With this investment, Ooyala is poised to extend our leadership in the rapidly expanding market for personalized cloud TV and video technology. With today’s news, we combine the backing of one of the strongest telecommunications companies in the world with the intensity and agility of an independent Silicon Valley company.
“This combination accelerates our growth and pace of innovation, while we remain laser-focused on helping media companies everywhere win in an industry undergoing massive transformation.”
The investment is the first under Telstra’s global applications and platforms (GAP) strategy, which seeks to create long-term global growth in markets adjacent to its core business, where software disrupts traditional business models. Chief executive David Thodey says this will enable them to build leading global company to deliver the platforms and services on which next generation TV and video will be built.
“Telstra‘s global customer relationships, our established presence in Asia and proven integration capabilities, combined with our expertise in online video and investment in Foxtel provide us a unique opportunity to succeed in this growth market,” he says.
Companies using Ooyala technology include Foxtel, Comedy Central, NBC Universal, Telstra, ESPN, Telegraph Media Group, Telefonica, The North Face, Rolling Stone, Dell, Sephora and Yahoo! Japan.
Headquartered in Mountain View, California, it has offices in New York, London, Sydney, Tokyo and Guadalajara, Mexico.