Carlyle acquires LiveU

LiveU has been acquired by investment firm Carlyle from its former investors, Francisco Partners. The details of the transaction aren’t being disclosed.

The bonded cellular technology live video specialist has 3,000+ customers in 130+ countries. Its technology is used extensively in live sports and news, including the Tokyo Olympics.

Carlyle’s investment will “support LiveU’s growth ambitions”, and follows the financier’s investments in media tech companies, Disguise and NEP alongside prior investments including The Foundry, Vubiquity, BTI Studios and The Mill.

Carlyle will seek to grow LiveU through M&A activity and organic growth, while capitalising on the rapidly growing demand for high-quality live video transmission, especially with the rollout of 5G and cloud-based remote workflows.

Equity for the investment will be provided by Carlyle Europe Technology Partners (CETP) IV, a fund that invests in middle market technology-focused opportunities in Europe and the US.

Samuel Wasserman, CEO and co-founder of LiveU, said: “We’re excited to partner with Carlyle as we look to expand LiveU’s global footprint and service offering. This is a significant milestone for LiveU and represents a strong vote of confidence in our business. Carlyle brings deep industry expertise with their track record in the media and technology space alongside a global network. We greatly thank Francisco Partners and IGP Capital for their support and partnership over the last few years.”

Michael Wand, managing director and co-head of the CETP advisory team, added: “Carlyle has a history of investing in fast-growing and highly innovative, disruptive media technology companies and is truly excited to partner with LiveU which is at the forefront of a rapidly growing market. Our partnership with the LiveU team will allow us to support their growth, driven by a mixture of expanding into new verticals, targeted M&A activity and through further developing their relationships with key media broadcasters, particularly in live sports.”

Eran Gorev, Francisco Partners president of Israel & senior operating partner, said: “With Francisco Partners’ track record of investing in technology companies across the US, Europe and Israel, we were uniquely positioned to support LiveU as it expanded its customer base, geographic presence and solution suite over recent years and solidified its position as the industry leader. We look forward to following the company as it continues to evolve in this next phase of its growth.”