ES Broadcast expands Spanish operations with acquisition of Crosspoint

(L-R) Lorenzo Heras; Snehal Savjani ES Media Group CFOO; Victor García; Ben Murphy; Jesús Ruiz; and Jonathan Lyth

 ES Broadcast has acquired Spanish equipment reseller, distributor and systems integrator Crosspoint.

The deal sees the Madrid-based company become part of the ES Media Group, alongside existing technology brands ES Broadcast, ES Broadcast Hire and Film Store Rental, and content services and library migration providers LMH and Memnon. Crosspoint brand Crossmedia, which provides comprehensive solutions for OTT environments, similarly joins the ES Media Group stable.

The sale was rubberstamped on 19 December, concluding negotiations led by Jesús Ruiz and Lorenzo Heras, who established the firm along with a third founder in 1993. Ruiz and Heras will look to retire following a handover period and wished to ensure the company’s future would be in trusted hands.

Current Crosspoint sales manager and shareholder Victor García will take up the role of managing director, ensuring continuity in the company’s day-to-day operations.

Announcing the acquisition, Ben Murphy, ES Media Group CEO, said: “We are excited to welcome Crosspoint to the group. I have long admired their operation – their innovation, technical support and knowledge sets them apart from their competitors and it is this that makes them a trusted brand that the largest broadcasters in Spain rely on for major projects.

“This acquisition allows ES Media Group further access to the Iberian Peninsula market, building on the success of our existing Spanish equipment hire operation.

“Much like our UK and US systems integration division, Crosspoint is increasingly leading the way with the very latest technology – including cloud production solutions. It’s a great fit for our strategy of having the best in-house expertise that in turn positions us as a true technology partner to tier-one broadcasters, content producers and owners.”

García underlined the importance of finding a buyer with extensive industry knowledge, market position and ambition, saying: “Since the first moment that we realised the need to face generational replacement in the company’s management, we were very clear that this was a great opportunity to grow and prepare in the best way for future challenges.

“ES Broadcast’s status as a global group with a highly ambitious approach and a comprehensive suite of client solutions provides Crosspoint with every justification for this acquisition. With such a powerful group behind us, we can continue to provide our clients with industry-leading technical expertise and a top-quality support service, while also progressively growing our unique solutions such as Crossmedia’s offering into international markets.”

Jonathan Lyth, ES Media Group CTO, added: “This acquisition is an exciting opportunity to further expand our collective engineering expertise, professional services provision and authorised service centres.

“Crosspoint’s approach to SaaS and cloud products aligns closely with our strategy of continually strengthening our readiness to provide services to this critical new area of the industry. With the addition of the Crossmedia team we also add a developer- and software services-led capability that acts as a platform to provide complete end-to-end technical solutions for the media value chain.”

With almost 30 years’ experience in the Spanish broadcast market, Crosspoint is one of Spain’s most respected broadcast technology brands, serving the broadcast, production, post production and content delivery sectors. The company offers Grass Valley, Riedel, Haivision, Fastly and Brightcove technology solutions among a wide range of brands, while notable clients include RTVE, Mediaset, Atresmedia, TV3, À Punt, TVG and Dorna.

Crossmedia, meanwhile, builds and manages OTT streaming services for broadcasters and content owners, using partner software providers as well as in-house developed applications.