Thoma Bravo Inks Deal to Acquire Telestream

Private equity investment firm Thoma Bravo, LLC has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Telestream, a provider of video transcoding and digital media software solutions. The transaction, which was announced today, will facilitate further growth of Telestream’s core businesses and provide additional capital for further market expansion and acquisition.

“This acquisition recognizes Telestream’s history of market leadership, double-digit growth and profitability,” says Dan Castles, Telestream’s co-founder and CEO. “That growth would not be possible without our original investors and dedicated team of employees who have demonstrated a strong commitment to our customers. We look forward to our next phase of growth and expansion with Thoma Bravo as we continue to play a leadership role in the digital media industry.”

The transaction is expected to close in early January 2012. Terms of the deal were not disclosed as both companies are privately held. Telestream will continue to operate as an independent entity with existing management teams continuing their current roles. Headquarters will remain in Nevada City, California with offices in Virginia, Sweden and Germany.

“Thoma Bravo is excited to partner with Telestream’s existing management team to continue to expand the company’s market leadership position,” said Holden Spaht, partner at Thoma Bravo. “We look forward to building on the company’s impressive reputation for product innovation, strategic acquisitions, and world-class customer service.”

A.J. Rohde, VP at Thoma Bravo adds: “The video ecosystem continues to grow and expand as customers require increasingly complex tools to manage their end-to-end video workflows. Thoma Bravo sees significant opportunity in the digital media market, and Telestream is well positioned as a strong platform for increased investment in the industry.”

A Market Ready to Explode
For more than 13 years, Telestream has pioneered file-based video encoding and transcoding solutions for media and entertainment companies, enterprises, and consumers. According to 2011 reports by business research firms Frost & Sullivan and In-Stat, the worldwide multi-format transcoders market is poised for strong growth.

“Vendors like Telestream have been helping to fuel growth in the digital video market by providing solutions that help media companies meet the challenges of scalability and economically creating and delivering the massive volumes of content demanded by a multi-screen environment,” says Mukul Krishna, Global Director, Digital Media at Frost & Sullivan.”

Avni Rambhia, Senior Industry Analyst, Digital Media at Frost & Sullivan adds: “Frost & Sullivan has recognized Telestream for its best practices multiple times and based on Frost & Sullivan’s analysis, Telestream is the market leader for the global video transcoders market.”

A Lucky 13 Years
Telestream has been profitable since 2001 and has self-financed three acquisitions: compression specialist Popwire in 2006; live webcasting and screencasting provider Vara Software Ltd. in 2008; and Anystream, a provider of automated multi-platform media publishing solutions in 2010. At the close of 2011, Telestream brings 13 straight years of record sales growth.