Transgaming acquires Oberon Smart TV division

TransGaming Inc has acquired Oberon Media's interactive TV and connected TV divisions.

Toronto-based TransGaming is already a leading player in the emerging Smart TV market. The Oberon acquisition includes distribution agreements with leading Smart TV manufacturers, and a number of cable, satellite and iTV service providers.

The deal includes Oberon Media's entire games catalogue, which has more than 100 titles. After the acquisition is closed on January 6, TransGaming's GameTree TV service will reach over 50 million households.

Vikas Gupta, TransGaming's CEO, believes the deal makes the company the "clear leader" in the burgeoning market for delivering games through connected TVs.

"We now have the ability to reach the hundreds of millions of set-top boxes currently deployed in living rooms globally, while also defining a clear migration path for service providers to bring high quality gaming to their subscribers as they deploy next generation devices," Gupta said in a statement.

"We have immediately increased our total addressable market for GameTree TV and have created a compelling value proposition unmatched by any other company in this space."

The aggregate price of the acquired assets is around $7 million, with $2 million tied up in earn-out clauses based on "revenue thresholds and the issuance of 4 million shares of TransGaming."

Oberon Media's president and COO, Bob Hayes, described the deal as an, "important step in our transformation of Oberon into a streamlined and highly focused company."

In April last year, Oberon Media was forced to cut an unspecified number of jobs as it moved away from first-party game development to concentrate on distribution.

To read our in-depth look at the Smart TV market, in which TransGaming's Vikas Gupta is a key interviewee, click here.