Deals involving digital signage and DOOH companies in 2011
Image credit: Randen Pederson on Flickr
- Amscreen acquires Digicom
- Axoro acquires Express Digital Signage product line from .advancedMethod
- Brite Media Group acquires Targetcast
- Chilin Technology acquires Vertigo Digital Displays
- ClearOne acquires MagicBox
- Concentia Group acquires Imagesound (kind of)
- Delphi Display Systems acquires Fast Track
- EnQii and Minicom merge
- Haivision acquires CoolSign
- iSIGN Media acquires Pinpoint Media
- KIT Digital acquires Kewego
- LiveIT & Learn acquires Can Media Group
- MADIC Holdings acquires Mirane
- Mermaid Acquires Headline.TV
- Mood Media acquires Muzak
- Mood Media acquires Pelika
- MRI (Grant Sign Group) acquires Hamilton Digital Designs
- Multiband acquires TechniqueUSA
- NCR acquires Radiant Systems
- Newad acquires assets of Media One
- Outcast Media, PumpTop TV and Health Club Media Network merge
- Qualcomm acquires gesture recognition assets from GestureTek
- Radiant Systems acquires Texas Digital
- Saddle Ranch Productions and Seatac Digital Resources merge
- Scala acquires Digifour Technologies
- Screenvision acquires Uniquescreen Media
- SeeSaw Networks goes out of business
- Stroer Digital acquires ECE Flatmedia
- VeriFone acquires assets of Show Media
- VeriFone acquires TaxiMedia
- VITEC Multimedia acquires assets of OOH Video
- YCD acquires assets of C-Nario
As we learned from last month's Digital Signage Sentiment Index, most people feel that 2012 will be a better year than 2011, and from the list above, 2011 didn't necessarily look that bad. So far this year, we've already seen some interesting deal action (PRN's acquisition of indoorDIRECT comes to mind), and the anecdotal evidence we've heard suggests more may be in store.
And what about SeeSaw? Without the details, we can only speculate. Anything from a costly operating structure to poor traction with advertisers could have taken them down. But in the end, it's still a little troubling. From my perspective, somebody needs to make the DOOH network aggregation model work. If it proves to be unworkable, the DOOH industry will be like a failed star -- unable to ignite, and forced to exist as just a cool, dim ball of gas (I worked on that metaphor for a while, in case you can't tell). Despite fringe cases where small networks thrive, merge and grow into successful large networks, failure is still the M.O. for too many digital signage networks. For that to change, we need standardization and interoperability. We need to present a unified front to advertisers. But the work is hard and unglamorous, so despite well more than a decade of growth, few in our industry have truly embraced these concepts and have been willing to devote time and money to the effort.
Were there other deals in 2011 that we missed? Do you have any insights into the deals listed above? Leave a comment and let us know!
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