Barco buys Montreal-based X2O Media

Barco, a global leader in professional visualization systems, today announces the acquisition of Montreal (Canada) based enterprise communication specialist X2O Media.

In line with Barco’s strategy to move beyond display and projection technology, this acquisition expands the portfolio with a complete solution to deliver enhanced and cross-divisional content distribution and workflow, based on advanced networking and connectivity capabilities.

X2O Media was established in 2006 as a spin-off from VertigoXmedia, a Montreal based company with strong expertise in the field of broadcast graphics automation. X2O’s innovative platform enables the connection, management and delivery of real-time data through dynamic and interactive channels, from any source to any screen, anywhere.

Better answering customers’ expectations

“X2O Media perfectly complements our offering and skills portfolio, and is an important step in our strategy to expand our portfolio beyond video and imaging,” says Eric Van Zele, CEO of Barco. “Customers’ expectations regarding workflow and content management shift to end-to-end and easy-to-use visualization systems and cloud-based solutions. X2O Media’s platform will play a crucial role in allowing Barco to tap into these new opportunities, while differentiating itself further from competition. The X2O software platform versatility, and its capability to address any display - be it fixed or mobile - will prove to be an important asset and allows Barco to link any content from any media to any device.”

Market Synergies 

 X2O’s platform establishes real-time visual communications to the right audience, at the right time, on the right device. The software is being used in demanding applications across a wide range of industries and shows a strong match with Barco’s target markets, including enterprise communications, corporate and education, retail and advertising, control rooms, broadcast and healthcare. The customer base includes major global brands and multinational corporations who use the X2O platform for visually communicating with employees, customers, and other stakeholders.

State of the art technology

The X2O software platform is using hardware agnostic standards, building on HTML-5 technology, and can address any display and all mobile devices. The platform includes plug-ins, “objects” for almost any type of data-source, from local database-systems, over collaboration sites (SharePoint, Exchange, …) up to dynamic data feeds from social media or news sites (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, …).

The solution can be deployed on premise or in the cloud and comes with an intuitive user interface allowing for the creation of channels and connections in the most efficient way.

Expanding beyond North America

“We are pleased to be welcomed at a major company like Barco, which will hugely expand our market reach,” says David Wilkins, President and CEO of X2O Media. “Barco is a technology company with a focus on visualization infrastructure and image quality. Adding X2O Media’s application software and workflow focused capabilities, will allow both companies to go to the market with a more comprehensive offering. At the moment, our market is limited to North America, but benefiting from Barco’s global network we will be able to grow our activities worldwide.”

A cross-divisional software knowledge center

X2O Media will be integrated in the Barco organization as a business venture, allowing it to continue the development of its platform technology, while leveraging its business growth from Barco’s worldwide sales and service presence. In addition, the X2O specific capabilities and technology will be integrated gradually in solutions for all of Barco’s markets. X2O Media posted sales of 5 million Canadian Dollars in 2013, employs about 40 people and was backed by Propulsion Ventures. The price of this acquisition is set to 21 million Canadian Dollars.