07.01.15
Christie acquires coolux
Christie has acquired Cologne-based coolux GmbH, best known for its Pandoras Box product family.
coolux, a developer and supplier of 3D compositing and rendering systems, will be integrated into Christie’s Global Market Solutions team, maintaining its office in Cologne, Germany.
Brant Eckett, Christie’s director of marketing for EMEA, said it was too early to say how staffing might be affected but he added that Christie’s business structure wouldn’t change as a result of the acquisition.
"Coolux at the moment are conducting their activities as normal," he said, "Like a lot of these things any changes to the operational part comes out following the acquisition, on the ground and not in a document.
“The acquisition is part of a strategic goal to bolster the total service provision that we can offer to a sector that we have been invested in for a long period of time; purpose-built projection for high brightness application indoor and outdoor events.
"We’ve always been about being purpose-built and now that’s now going beyond the product to being purpose-built for the total solution."
He said the deal would create a synergy between the two companies which would enable them to develop more effective products more rapidly.
"Before, Christie has gone to market with its knowledge about high brightness projection technology and we have worked with companies like coolux for a long period of time to make sure we get the feedback from them and the event stages about how our products should evolve.
"You can have so much communication in those forums but once you’re part of the same group those discussions can be had much more freely and you can tap into that knowledge and share those experiences far more directly. This will enable us to evolve both company’s products faster."
He stressed that the deal would not reduce competition in the marketplace.
"What’s very important to note is that sometimes in acquisitions companies develop those ties in order to no longer make their systems agnostic – out goal has never been to do that. At the end of the day the market is best served by delivering the best products that we can – that’s not just Christie but our competitors – and hopefully we thrive from competing against each other to do that better than anyone else.”
Jennifer Smith, executive VP, Global Market Solutions, said: “Christie is committed to deepen its marketplace lead in supplying a total solution for advanced applications such as projection mapping, broadcast delivery and all manner of large-scale digital canvas creation, so the fit between our products and services and those of coolux is a natural one.”
“Pre-visualization capability when creating stunning, experiential events– including real-time rendering of same – is increasingly important in the creative plans of entertainment designer and creative visionaries. The acquisition is a boon to those who need multiple display technologies to come together to create both continuous and non-continuous digital canvases, but most importantly, to be able to create and manage the content that flows onto these canvases.”
coolux CEO Jan Huewel, who will report to Jennifer Smith in his new position of senior director, Processing Solutions, said: “In a world where visual and audio experiences are assuming new importance in inspiring and moving audiences, content orchestration and synchronised content delivery is paramount and with today’s news, Christie, with its already impressive presence in this arena, has gained another leading-edge product line and development team to ensure it keeps its lead.”
More detail on the announcement will be provided at the biennial coolux Connect Conference, to be held on tomorrow and Friday in Cologne, Germany.
coolux has become a welcome feature at various industry shows, including ISE, NAB, LDI and InfoComm, and this presence will continue in the Christie experiential marketing booths at said shows, beginning with the NAB 2015 show in Las Vegas, Nevada, April 13-16, 2015.