Xperi Buys European Smart TV Middleware Firm for $109M

Xperi bought European smart TV middleware company Vewd Software for $109 million in a combination of cash and debt, the buyer said Tuesday. Vewd provides over-the-top and hybrid TV solutions that ship in over 30 million connected TV devices annually. The transaction gives Xperi access to an installed European footprint of about 15 million devices that can be enabled for monetization, including activation of TiVo+, its free ad-supported TV service, it said. “The acquisition of Vewd also strengthens the growth outlook of our product business as we prepare to separate our IP and product businesses this fall," said Xperi CEO Jon Kirchner, saying Xperi expects incremental revenue of $10 million in the second half followed by “substantially higher” revenue in 2023. Xperi will add about 275 Vewd team members; the Vewd management team will continue to lead the business and will be integrated into Xperi’s management structure, it said. Over 450 million connected TV devices have shipped with Vewd smart TV software from customers including Amazon, Commscope, Hisense, Nintendo, Sagemcom, Skyworth, Sony, Swisscom, TCL, TPV Philips and Vestel.