Imax Corporation on Thursday acquired in a $21 million deal SSIMWAVE Inc., a video company that uses AI tech to enhance video images in real time and deliver the highest quality video images on any device for both on-demand and live video streams.
Imax acquired SSIMWAVE as part of its mission to produce the best quality video images on any screen and to further its ambitions with live video. The deal was for $18.5 million in cash and $2.5 million in stock with additional earn-out consideration of $4 million, subject to achieving certain operating performance and financial objectives.
SSIMWAVE’s tech has won two Emmys and has a 30-person engineering team that has mapped the human visual system to produce one of the most accurate measures of perceptual quality, which its AI-driven software applies to enhance video streams and files in real time. Companies including Disney and Paramount Global currently partner with SSIMWAVE to optimize their own video.
Imax will work with SSIMWAVE in the near term to further grow its business and product suite, including international expansion. Longer-term, Imax’s technology and post-production teams will work with SSIMWAVE’s engineering team to develop new solutions for delivering Imax-quality video experiences across platforms and around the world.
The acquisition is expected to be accretive in 2023 and have no material impact in 2022.
“SSIMWAVE is doing revolutionary work at the intersection of human visual perception and image enhancement technology. By putting the power of our global brand behind their award-winning engineering team and product suite, Imax takes a big step toward a new horizon in our ability to deliver the best images for any creator, across every screen,” Rich Gelfond, CEO of IMAX, said in a statement. “In the near-term, SSIMWAVE brings to Imax new SaaS-based revenue and a world-class client roster that tightly aligns with some of our strongest, most successful content partnerships.”
“Viewers and content creators expect more from video experiences. By joining Imax, SSIMWAVE will be even better positioned to preserve creators’ intent and enable engaging, differentiated viewing experiences to millions of users across platforms,” said Dr. Abdul Rehman, CEO of SSIMWAVE. “We’re excited to join Imax and tap into its global scale and expertise as more streamers turn to SSIMWAVE to ensure the best viewing experiences while reducing bandwidth costs.”
Founded at Ontario’s University of Waterloo, SSIMWAVE’s technology has improved the viewer experience of more than 150 million subscribers over billions of viewing hour. The company’s two Emmys include a Technology & Engineering Emmy Award in 2020 and a Primetime Emm® Award for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering in 2015. SSIMWAVE was also honored as a Best New Streaming Technology winner in the NAB Show Product of the Year Awards in both 2022 and 2021.
