Pinnacle Systems Inc has signed a letter of intent to acquire Miro Computer Products AG’s Digital Video Products Group in a deal estimated at $21m. The Mountain View, California-based company that recently reported nine month net losses of $10.1m from profits of $4.8m at the same time last year (CI No 3,157) will acquire the assets of the German company’s division which provides desktop video cards for non-linear editing applications and incorporate CODEC advanced video compression technology. Real-time three dimensional special effects and video processing technology supplier Pinnacle, says Miro is one of the few companies that has CODEC products that are compatible with new Digital Video recording formats. Pinnacle believes the combination of both companies’ technology will help boost its ambitions in the booming desktop video market. Miro reported revenue of $35m for the year to June 30. The deal is expected to be completed within the next few weeks and to close by the end of September. Pinnacle will pay some $15m in cash, $5m in shares and assume liabilities of around $1m. It also expects to have to pay around $1m in costs associated with the transaction and integration of the businesses.
