Rentrak Sells PPT Video Rental Arm for $7m

Film and television measurement specialist Rentrak has raised $7m by selling its Pay Per Transaction (PPT) video rental arm to Vobile, a provider of video content identification, analytics and management services.

Rentrak announced a year ago that it was considering the PPT sale, in order to focus on its 'higher growth' AMI (Advanced Media and Information) business. In fiscal 2015, the company anticipated declines of up to 25% in the PPT business, due to the total loss of revenue from its Blockbuster account, as well as the general long-term decline in the business. In a statement, Rentrak CEO Bill Livek said that while the PPT business no longer fits with his firm's strategy of precisely measuring movies and TV everywhere, it has provided considerable value for clients for many years, while generating more than $100m in cash since 2006.

Santa Clara, California-based Vobile has now acquired the division for $1m in cash, a $1m note due in six months and Vobile preferred stock with a $5 million liquidation preference. As part of the deal, Vobile plans to hire all Rentrak PPT employees and will rent space in Rentrak's Portland office.

Vobile founder and CEO Yangbin Wang (pictured) commented: 'We are very pleased to be able to work with Rentrak to acquire the complete team along with the Pay Per Transaction revenue sharing system, which has an excellent three-decade long track record in helping clients make more profit with less risk. By integrating the PPT system with our VDNA platform, Vobile will enable content owners and distributors to maximize their revenues in the mobile Internet era.'

Web sites: www.rentrak.com and www.vobileinc.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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