Autocue Group announces MBO of its Workflow division
IBC 2013, Stand 11.45 – Autocue Group Ltd confirms that it has reached an agreement in principle to sell its Workflow division to the Group CTO, Neil Hutchins.
The Workflow division encompasses the newsroom, automation and media management software, video server and production suite hardware, and associated maintenance contract customers. Autocue Group Ltd will retain the Prompting division, together with the Autocue and QTV brands, relinquishing all interest in the Workflow business. The deal is likely to complete by the end of September 2013 – until then the divisions will continue to operate together as normal.
This is the culmination of a long-term strategy to separate the two divisions. Frank Hyman, Group CEO explains, “We’ve been operating Prompting and Workflow as separate divisions for well over a year now, with dedicated development and operational teams and Richard Satchell and Neil Hutchins at the helm of their respective divisions. We now feel the time is right for each business to have the dedicated focus it requires to address its full growth potential.”
Hyman continues, “I’m delighted for Neil. Thanks to our investment and Neil and his team’s exceptional work, the Workflow division is very profitable, has a strong customer base, an excellent solution set and a very exciting future.”
Only the Prompting business will exhibit at this year’s IBC event. Hutchins explained, “We have made the decision not to exhibit Workflow products at IBC this year (though we will have a sales representative at the show). Instead we’ve invested in a dedicated demonstration facility in the UK and we’ll also be running road shows in key territories. We feel this will allow us to carry out more detailed product demonstrations with our customers and targeted training with our resellers. Once the transition is complete we’ll also be announcing significant extensions to our product range.”
The transaction will also see Autocue Group CEO Frank Hyman transition to Executive Chairman, with Richard Satchell (currently Group Commercial Director) replacing him as CEO.
Satchell, commented, “This new, singular prompting focus will bring significant benefits to our customers and help us to build on our market leading position. For example, we’ll be able to build stronger relationships with newsroom providers who would previously have considered us a competitor. We’re very well placed to integrate (and innovate) with these manufacturers thanks to the extensive NRCS experience we have within our in-house development team.”
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