IBM Acquires Video Streaming Service Firm Ustream

The deal will boost the company's existing portfolio of video services.

In a bid to boost its existing portfolio of video services, IBM has acquired Ustream, a video streaming service company. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Fortune wrote that IBM paid $130 million in cash for the video streaming firm.

IBM confirmed the Ustream acquisition today but declined to comment on the price of the deal.

With this acquisition, IBM plans to create a new business unit, a cloud video service. The deal follows IBM’s acquisition of Clearleap, a provider of cloud-based video services. Clearleap has been integrated into the IBM Cloud platform to provide organizations with a fast and easy ways to manage, monetize, and grow user video experiences and deliver them securely over the internet and mobile devices. The company said the Clearleap deal would help it advance its cloud services. 

The Ustream and Clearleap acquisitions follow cloud rival Amazon’s acquisition of Elemental Technologies, a leading supplier of software-defined video solutions for multiscreen content delivery. Amazon acquired the company in September 2014 to boost its public cloud service AWS.

Founded in 2007 and based in San Francisco, Ustream provides video streaming services to more than 80 million viewers and broadcasters. Ustream has more than 180 employees and has offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Budapest. The company has partnerships with Panasonic, Samsung, Logitech, CBS News, Viacom and IMG Media. Before its deal with IBM, Ustream has received $11.1 million in Series A funding for new product development from DCM, Labrador Ventures and Band of Angels. 

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