Software company WideOrbit Inc. will become a subsidiary of Lumine Group under a binding agreement and merger plan announced in December.
WideOrbit has about 450 employees and had annual revenue in 2021 of about $167 million. The acquisition is expected to close in this quarter if WideOrbit meets certain closing conditions.
Lumine Group is headquartered in Mississauga in Ontario, Canada. WideOrbit headquarters are in San Francisco. Once the transaction is completed, WideOrbit will operate as an autonomous business unit within the Lumine Group’s portfolio.
Lumine currently is a subsidiary of Constellation Software Inc., but the latter said it intends to spin off Lumine Group Inc. to operate as a separate publicly traded company, with Constellation as majority shareholder. That’s pending approval of the TSX Venture Exchange and securities regulators.
The purchase of WideOrbit will be financed with funding from Constellation and a banking partner. Terms are a cash payment plus the issuance of shares of Lumine Group to eligible WideOrbit shareholders.
Lumine CEO David Nyland called this acquisition “the next step in Lumine Group’s journey towards building the world’s leading network of communications and media software companies.” The company has a highly visible focus on acquisitions. Its website states that it “acquires, strengthens and grows communications & media software businesses,” that it has a “buy and hold” approach and that it sets up its businesses to “operate independently in a decentralized structure.” In December it also completed an acquisition of Wiztivi, which provides video applications and cloud gaming. (See its list of companies.)
WideOrbit serves several media business sectors. It describes its product as “the one platform that ties everything together, from pitch to payment.” Its software is familiar in radio for functions like ad management, business intelligence, programmatic buying, network sales and automation. It was founded in 1999. Eric Mathewson, its founder and CEO, will stay on. He was quoted in the announcement saying, “Our partnership with Lumine will build on our 23-year legacy and contribute to a stronger future for the company, our employees and our valued clients.”
Mark Miller is chairman of Lumine Group, CEO of Volaris Group and COO of Constellation. Mark Leonard is president of Constellation.
In 2021, Audacy Inc. acquired technology, the assets and operations of WO Streaming, a business unit within WideOrbit, saying it would operate WO Streaming under the name AmperWave.
