These days streaming content is gaining the name of the game and now a company that makes tech from anywhere in the world. LiveU – which uses satellite / cellular hardware and more than 3,000 large media companies to deliver live streaming and broadcast video – is set to be acquired by private equity firm Carlyle, multiple sources told TechCrunch, for more than $400 million. Live U is located in Israel and is reportedly working on the deal through local media. Our sources say the acquisition is in the final stages of closure and could be announced today or tomorrow. A spokesman for LiveU declined to comment on the story, and a spokesman for Carlyle declined to comment.
Notably, this is the second time that LiveU has changed hands in two years: the company had previously acquired another PE firm, a French partner, for $200 million. The rapid jump in evaluations, more than doubling in 25 months, is part of the huge source of interest we have seen for video content. Not so long ago you only watched live video on television using a limited set of limited broadcast channels. Now, we have live, or live nearby or on-demand running images coming to us from anywhere.
Available on-demand and live-streamed video apps (both dedicated to broadcasting and those that provide it, such as YouTube, Facebook, and more) and websites; And not just TVs, phones, tablets and computers. It has become the primary means of informing and entertaining people today and accounts for more than 80% of all IP traffic.
So it is understandable that a company building technology will attract attention to make that video capture and delivery process easier, cheaper and of better quality. (LiveU has been used for much high-profile coverage, from tennis championships to the Derek Chauvin trial.) Another reason for this growth, it seems, is that LiveU has grown in size through an acquisition itself. Earlier this year it spread to the UK market by an undisclosed amount of channel partner Garland Partners to get closer to its customers in the region. One of our sources mentioned that this integration helped determine the course for LiveU to achieve itself and to evaluate it.
