Quantel, the Newbury-headquartered company specializing in the design and manufacturing of digital imaging products, has been bought by its management team from U.K. media conglomerate Carlton Communications in a deal valued at a minimum of $76.7 million (translated into dollars from British pounds). That price tag could increase to some $85 million if a future sale of the company comes to pass.
Headed by executive chairman Richard Taylor, the Quantel management team becomes the majority shareholder in the company, with staffers offered the opportunity to also hold a stake in the firm. Finance for the transaction was provided by Lloyds TSB Development Capital, part of Lloyds TSB Bank in the U.K. As lead investor, Lloyds will hold non-executive representation on Quantel’s board. Carlton, which had been the parent company to Quantel for the past 11 years, will no longer have a seat on that board.
According to Quantel, the deal secures more than 500 jobs, 350 of which are in the U.K. The buyout, read a management statement, helps to "remove the uncertainty caused by the company being offered for sale as part of Carlton’s planned merger with United [News & Media] … Customers can now be confident in securing long-term partnerships with Quantel." The merger with U.K. United has since fallen through.
The buyout group reasoned that its deal paves the way for planned product introductions, continuing R&D and profitable growth. The Quantel management team consists of Taylor; research director Paul Kellar; operations director Dale Fry; marketing director Nigel Turner; commercial director Chris Whiteley; sales director Martin Mulligan; and finance director Ian Cooper.
A released statement from Taylor read: "We have also received many messages of support from our customers and this deal allows us to continue to offer them the high levels of support and service they have come to expect." He noted that Quantel now combines its long-standing track record with "the vitality of a start-up."
In a prepared statement, Turner added: "We recognize that the digital age presents huge opportunities to content creators across both traditional and new media channels. Going forward we will bring to the market the fastest, most innovative and versatile tools to help them fully leverage the potential of this media explosion."
Quantel’s range of offerings includes effects editors Henry and Infinity, online editor Editbox FX, video design suite Hal, embedded editing server Clipbox, Paintbox FX, and Chaser, a component of the company’s step-by-step approach to HD. The latter is grounded in the Monty technology, which will spawn other HD-related products.
