The Kudelski Group has acquired 100% of NexGuard Labs BV (formerly Civolution BV), a compamny specialising in digital content watermarking solutions.
This move expands the Kudelski Group’s portfolio of end-to-end content protection security solutions, enriching the existing offer to content owners and pay-TV operators.
NexGuard Labs BV, based in the Netherlands with offices in Los Angeles, New York, London, Dubai and Rennes (France), is a provider of forensic watermarking technology and solutions for protecting media content against illicit redistribution. It offers a portfolio of industry-leading digital watermarking tools to help media content owners, rights holders and distributors protect and manage their assets. The portfolio consists of digital watermarking tools for Pre-Release, Digital Cinema, B2B and B2C distribution.
Civolution was formed in October 2008 as a spin-off of Royal Philips Electronics. In August 2008, Philips Content Identification, a business unit of Philips Electronics, assumed full ownership of its joint venture Teletrax. The combined entity was spun out of Philips in October giving birth to Civolution.
In July 2009, Civolution took over the Software and Technology Solution from Thomson (Thomson STS), formerly Nextamp.
In December 2014, WPP’s Kantar Media acquired Civolution’s SyncNow audio watermarking unit supporting Audience Measurement and Second Screen synchronization applications.
Following the Kantar Media acquisition, Civolution announced the launch of two separate business units, NexGuard and Teletrax. NexGuard is the world leader in watermarking technology and solutions for protecting media content against illicit redistribution.
André Kudelski, chairman and CEO, Kudelski Group said: “the acquisition of NexGuard further strengthens our content protection offering and represents a key milestone in executing our growth strategy in security.”
