Audinate To Acquire Silex Insight Video Business

Acquisition will accelerate Audinate’s AV-over-IP strategy, bolster in-house video expertise

PORTLAND, Ore., December 14, 2021 – Audinate, developer of the industry-leading Dante media networking technology, has signed an agreement to acquire the video business of Silex Insight SA (“Silex”), based in Belgium.  The Silex video business produces video networking products for manufacturers of AV equipment.

The acquisition includes a range of AV-over-IP products, including IP Cores, the VIPER Board, Video ASSP and Design Services, as well as three Silex implementations of video codecs: Colibri, JPEG 2000 and VC-2 HQ.  Audinate will also acquire a team of 8 engineers with extensive video implementation expertise and remains committed to supporting the existing Silex products and customers.

The acquisition of the Silex video business will allow Audinate to accelerate its strategic vision for integrated audio and video over IP and will add breadth and depth to its AV-over-IP product line up.  In addition, the transaction will increase video FPGA expertise within the company, and cement critical mass for its video engineering team in Europe.

“Since the development of our first Dante AV product we have been committed to bringing the simplicity and interoperability of Dante to the video-over-IP market,” states Audinate co-founder and CEO Aidan Williams.  “With this acquisition, we are doubling down on that strategy. The video codecs and deep product expertise in the team, in combination with our Dante networking technology, will enable us to go to market with a variety of full-service video offerings.”

“Audinate is an excellent new home for our video team, customers and suppliers as there is a unique complement in know-how, competencies and expertise,” commented Michel Van Maercke, CEO of Silex Insight.  “Moreover, we see a great cultural fit and a similar customer-oriented mindset, which is critical for the success of an integration post acquisition. I am confident that the Silex video team will do very well as part of Audinate and will make a true difference in the exciting Pro AV market.”

The proposed transaction is a carve-out of the video business from Silex, which will retain its existing security business and is expected to complete on 31 January 2022.

About Audinate Group Limited: 

Audinate Group Limited (ASX:AD8) has a vision to pioneer the future of AV. Audinate’s award winning Dante AV over IP networking solution is the worldwide leader and used extensively in the professional live sound, commercial installation, broadcast, public address, and recording industries. Dante replaces traditional analogue cables by transmitting perfectly synchronized AV signals across large distances, to multiple locations at once, using nothing more than an Ethernet cable. Audinate is headquartered in Australia and has regional offices in the United States, United Kingdom and Hong Kong. Dante technology powers products available from hundreds of leading audio partners around the world. The company’s ordinary shares are traded on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) under the ticker code AD8.

Dante and Audinate are registered trademarks of Audinate Holdings Pty Ltd.

About Silex Insights

Silex was founded in 1991 as an ASIC/FPGA design house in Belgium.  It was acquired by Barco in 1995 and then renamed as Silex Insight in 2018 as a part of an MBO.  Silex Insight is recognised as a market-leading independent supplier of Security IP solutions for embedded systems and custom OEM solutions for AVoIP/Video IP codec.  Custom OEM solutions for AVoIP/Video codec from Silex provide high-end image and video compression solutions for distributing low latency, 4K HDR video over IP.  The security platforms and solutions include flexible and high-performance crypto engines which are easy to integrate and an eSecure IP module that provides a complete security solution for all platforms.  Development takes place at their headquarters near Brussels, Belgium.