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Grass Valley (company)

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Grass Valley
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryBroadcasting
FoundedApril 7, 1959; 65 years ago (April 7, 1959)
HeadquartersMontreal, Quebec, Canada
Key people
Andrew Cross, Ph.D. (CEO) [1]
ParentBlack Dragon Capital
Websitegrassvalley.com

Grass Valley (formerly known as Thomson Grass Valley and Grass Valley Group) is a manufacturer of television production and broadcasting equipment. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, it was formed by the March 2014 merger of the original Grass Valley with Miranda Technologies, which were both acquired by American networking company Belden in 2014 and 2012, respectively. In February 2018 owners Belden merged Grass Valley with new acquisition Snell Advanced Media (formerly known as Quantel Ltd, Snell, Snell & Wilcox, Snell Limited, SAM, and Snell Group). On July 2, 2020, Grass Valley announced the completion of its acquisition by private equity firm, Black Dragon Capital, from Belden Inc.

History

Grass Valley camera in use on a sports outside broadcast

Grass Valley Group was founded as a research and development company in 1959 by Dr. Donald Hare in Grass Valley, California, in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada range. Hare chose Grass Valley after learning about it from his friend, Charles Litton Sr.[2] In 1964, Grass Valley demonstrated its first video product, a video distribution amplifier in a hotel room at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Chicago.[3] In 1965, Grass Valley officially attended the 1965 National Association of Broadcasters convention in Washington, D.C. On display were its processing amplifier, video distribution amplifier, Synac processing module and sync generator.[4] By 1968, the Grass Valley Group had introduced its first production switcher, or vision mixer, that “came to define the industry standard.”[5]

The company merged with Tektronix in 1974.[6] When Tektronix divested its printing, video and networking divisions it sold the video business to a private investor, Terry Gooding of San Diego, California, who reincorporated it under the name Grass Valley Group, Inc.[7] The sale closed on September 24, 1999.

In 2002, the French electronics company Thomson Multimedia, now known as Technicolor SA, acquired Grass Valley Group.[8] After coming under the ownership of Thomson, Grass Valley Group merged its product line with the existing professional and broadcast products of its new parent company.

In 2005, Thomson purchased Canopus Corporation, to add to Grass Valley’s business, also adopting its video-editing software Edius.[9]

After the financial crisis of 2008, Thomson defaulted on its financial covenants and was forced by its creditors to divest its Grass Valley business, PRN and other manufacturing entities. On January 29, 2009, Thomson announced that it was putting the Grass Valley division up for sale.[10]

In 2010, the Grass Valley business unit, not including the head-end and transmission businesses, was acquired by private equity firm Francisco Partners and resumed operating as an independent company with offices in San Francisco, California, on January 1, 2011.[11] The company announced in August 2013 it would move its headquarters to Hillsboro, Oregon, later that year to an existing office.[12]

On March 31, 2014, the company was acquired from Francisco Partners by Belden Inc. and merged with Miranda Technologies,[13] which Belden acquired on July 27, 2012.[14] The merged company operates as Grass Valley.

In 2018, Belden acquired SAM (re-badged from Quantel) and merged it into Grass Valley.

On October 30, 2019, Belden Inc. put Grass Valley up for sale, listing it as a "discontinued operation" on its books.[15]

On February 4, 2020, Black Dragon Capital signed a definitive agreement with Belden Inc. to acquire Grass Valley.[16] The transaction closed in the first half of 2020, following the receipt of regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. More recently, Grass Valley logo is rendered without "A Belden Brand" byline, marking departure of company from Belden.

On July 2, 2020, Grass Valley announced the completion of its acquisition from Belden Inc. by private equity firm Black Dragon Capital.[17]

On November 9, 2021, Grass Valley announced the removal of former CEO Tim Shoulders and the appointment of Louis Hernandez as executive chairman.[18]

On January 10, 2022, Nicola Wealth, a Canadian investment firm, announced the acquisition of Grass Valley's headquarters at 3499, Douglas B Floreani Street, Saint-Laurent (Montréal), in Quebec.[19]

On March 9, 2022, Grass Valley announced the appointment of Andrew Cross as chief executive officer.[20] As of November 1, 2022, Andrew Cross is listed as advisor on the company's website.[21]

Products

Grass Valley manufacturers television production and broadcasting equipment. Its product line includes cameras, live production switchers, replay and highlights products, media storage, editing, asset management, modular infrastructure, routing, conversion equipment, control, monitoring and automated playout, sold as hardware, software and software as a service (SaaS).[22]

References

  1. ^ "Vizrt Exec Andrew Cross Appointed CEO of Grass Valley". TV Technology. March 9, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  2. ^ "How It All Began". VintageTEK. 2018-02-07. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  3. ^ "Grass Valley Products". VintageTEK. 2017-10-11. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  4. ^ "How It All Began". VintageTEK. 2018-02-07. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  5. ^ "PE Firm Makes Binding Offer for Grass Valley". TV technology. July 27, 2010. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  6. ^ "PE Firm Makes Binding Offer for Grass Valley". TV technology. July 27, 2010. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  7. ^ "PE Firm Makes Binding Offer for Grass Valley". TV technology. July 27, 2010. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  8. ^ "Thomson Closes Deal To Acquire Grass Valley Group" (Press release). digitalbroadcasting.com. March 4, 2002. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  9. ^ "Thomson Buying Canopus". Post Magazine. December 6, 2005. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  10. ^ "Thomson to Sell Grass Valley". TV Technology. January 29, 2009. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
  11. ^ "Francisco Partners Completes Acquisition of Grass Valley". tvtechnology.com. January 3, 2011. Archived from the original on January 6, 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
  12. ^ Rogoway, Mike (August 29, 2013). "Grass Valley, a video technology company with roots at Tektronix, moves HQ from San Francisco to Hillsboro". The Oregonian. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  13. ^ "Belden Set To Acquire Grass Valley, Merge Ops With Miranda". sportsvideo.org. February 6, 2014. Retrieved 2014-04-16.
  14. ^ "Belden reveals why it bought Miranda". TV Technology. September 9, 2012. Retrieved 2014-04-16.
  15. ^ "Belden Selling Grass Valley". TV Technology. October 30, 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
  16. ^ "Belden Announces Definitive Agreement to Divest Grass Valley". BusinessWire (Press release). February 4, 2020. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  17. ^ "Black Dragon completes Grass Valley acquisition". Advanced Television. 3 July 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  18. ^ Priestley, Jenny (2021-11-09). "Major shake-up at Grass Valley as CEO Tim Shoulders leaves the company". TVBEurope. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  19. ^ Nicola Wealth (January 10, 2022). "Nicola Wealth Real Estate enters the Montreal market with a major industrial acquisition in partnership with Montoni Group to further expand their footprint across Canada : Nicola Wealth Real Estate". Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  20. ^ Grass Valley (March 9, 2022). "Grass Valley Appoints Andrew Cross as Chief Executive Officer to lead GV Vision". www.grassvalley.com. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  21. ^ Grass Valley. "Leadership Team". www.grassvalley.com. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  22. ^ "Grass Valley Website (primary source)". Grass Valley. 27 May 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.

Further reading

  • 2002. "Share the News Three New Systems from Grass Valley Group Are Intended to Facilitate Work Flow". Broadcasting & Cable. 132: 35.
  • 2001. "Equipment Purchase — French Manufacturer Thomson Multimedia Acquires Grass Valley Group". Broadcasting & Cable. 131: 12.
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