Article
Hughes to buy Helius
Hughes' acquisition of Helius shows signs of a converging industry.
January 6, 2008
Behind the screens, the IP network marketplace is converging.
Hughes Communications Inc. announced last week that it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Helius Inc., meaning that one of the nation's largest network services providers for digital signage is about to get much bigger.
The acquisition is set to be completed on or near Feb. 4, 2008. When the acquisition is completed, Helius will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hughes and will begin working with Hughes' North America and its international enterprises. Helius is presently a privately held firm and a portfolio company of Canopy Ventures.
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"The synergy between the two companies is nice because existing Hughes customers can have Helius devices and applications snapped into their networks and be in business," he said.
Hughes and Helius already are familiar with each other, having collaborated in the past on projects for Safeway grocery stores. The companies also have had an OEM relationship for about two years, Tippets said.
"It made sense to tighten that relationship," he said.
In addition to digital signage networks, Hughes specializes in broadband satellite networking solutions and operates HughesNet, a solution that combines broadband and terrestrial connection technology with the company's managed services. The company also supplies IPTV connectivity for digital signage applications in retail, hospitality, government and gas station sectors.
"Hughes saw a natural fit in teaming with Helius to better address the market for digital media solutions," said Pradman Kaul, president and CEO of Hughes, in a release. "We believe this acquisition will uniquely position Hughes as a cost-effective, end-to-end service provider offering content management, hardware, installation, maintenance, network operations and services."
Helius also has a stake in the IP-over-satellite market, offering a content distribution network suite for broadcasting data for digital signage, distance training and e-learning. Helius also is seeing success with its security monitoring system, which adds live security video footage to the digital sign's content loop in a retail setting.
After the acquisition is complete, Helius' IP video will be distributed over the HughesNet digital media network. Tippets said one of the big attractions to Hughes was the fact that Hughes already has relationships with many companies outside of the U.S., such as Europe and Asia, meaning more global sales opportunities.
Adapting to customers
Tippets said that the acquisition represents a convergence of the digital signage industry, one that is happening as a result of customers' desire for a more complete solution.
"It is becoming more clear and obvious that customers want the ‘how-to-do' to be very quick and easy, but not cheap," Tippets said. "They're saying ‘who can I call to come in here, set this network up and train me on everything?' That combination – we have that now."
Helius will add the tag "a Hughes company" to its name and continue to operate out of its Lindon, Utah location. Hughes Communications is headquartered in Germantown, Md., just outside of Washington, D.C.
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