When Grass Valley called, PubliTronic's world changed forever
Oct 24, 2011 11:22 AM, By Michael Grotticelli
Sometimes a simple phone call can make all the difference in the world.
This past summer, Harold Vermeulen, a 46-year old engineer and entrepreneur who started a company called PubliTronic in the Netherlands, was happily realizing a vision he had in 1997 to help content distribution networks replace aging (and expensive) master control suites throughout Europe and the Middle East with a fully integrated, IT-centric system that cost a third of the price to deploy.
The integrated playout system features three primary components: an automation system, a server and a graphics (channel branding) engine. Secondary features can include closed captioning, EAS, foreign languages and second audio programming (SAP) functionality.
After about three years in the business, his company found some success in the UK and emerging markets like Singapore and the Middle East, but he always felt confident he could expand and reach new markets that needed such technology. The problem was that he had limited resources to move the company to the next level and bring it to new markets and countries that were sure to adopt a similar cost-effective approach.
Then came the phone call that changed everything. U.S.-based Grass Valley was calling to inquire about its interest in PubliTronic’s technology and the company’s future growth strategy. After some discussion, Grass Valley liked it so much it said it wanted to buy the company.
In his mind (during the call), Vermeulen told himself that his company was not for sale, but his heart said otherwise.
“We were not for sale when I got the call, but we had the ambition to grow the company as quickly as we could, and I soon became excited by the idea of merging with a global organization like Grass Valley,” he said. “At the time, we had some momentum in Europe, but our global presence was very fragmented (Singapore, Middle East, Australia) and our resources were limited. It was a very nice phone call, to say the least.”
As of Oct. 12, 2011, PubliTronic became a wholly owned subsidiary of Grass Valley, with all of PubliTronic’s products to be rebranded as the Grass Valley K2 Edge server line. Vermeulen was simultaneously named vice president of media playout solutions at Grass Valley.
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