AT&T is set to buy Quickplay Media, which is an internet video streaming services provider of some note. The telco will be using the upcoming acquisition to launch the 3 DirecTV OTT services it has been promising for some time now.
AT&T did not reveal the terms of the deal, but they will be buying Quickplay from Madison Dearborn Partners, the private equity firm that bought the video streaming company in 2012, for a reported $100 million. AT&T confirmed that it would be keeping on the 350 employees and contractors that come over along with the deal.
Being an existing customer of Quickplay, they will also be using it to support the 3 DirecTV OTT services they have promised to launch this year – DirecTV Now, DirecTV Mobile, and DirecTV Preview. Doing that will bring the satellite distributor in competition with such services as Dish Network’s Sling TV, PlayStation VUE from Sony, and Go90 from Verizon. Hulu is another service that will be releasing a skinny TV bundle in 2017.
With the combined might of Quickplay’s IP distribution setup and AT&T’s IP connected end point network, this will allow the new company to host and air many different forms of video traffic. According to John Stankey, CEO at AT&T Entertainment Group, the company plans to scale the new platform so that viewers will get to watch high-quality online videos for just the experience they want.
Quickplay started in 2004, and according to the company, it airs over 700 live video channels each year, as well as 400 live events. The company is headquartered in Toronto and has offices in San Diego, Singapore, Chennai, and Frankfurt. It also bought the network operations center assets of FLO TV as part of its U.S. expansion, in 2011. Aside from U-Verse, it has a customer list including Vodafone, AccuWeather, Rogers Communications, Canada’s Bell and Sirius XM.
Regarding the planned merger, founder and CEO Wayne Purboo said in a statement that joining with AT&T will give the company “the resources we need to further scale, grow the business, and continuously enhance that platform.” The deal will need to be approved by federal bodies in the U.S. and Canada, with the usual closing conditions based on the type and scale of the merger. Both companies are looking to finish closing the deal by mid-year this year.
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