Liberty Global Ventures has made a £7.5 million strategic investment in Technetix, a UK-headquartered specialist in cable broadband transmission technologies and equipment.
Liberty Global Ventures is the investment fund owned by international cable group Liberty Global, which has operations in more than 30 countries in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. It does business under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Ziggo, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC.
Following the acquisition of the assets of Cable & Wireless, it also operates a submarine cable network in Latin American region (see Liberty Global to acquire Cable & Wireless Communications).
Commenting on the acquisition, Colin Buechner, managing director, access network business of Liberty Global, said: ‘Liberty Global Ventures invests in companies which provide high strategic value to our markets. Technetix is a key partner to Liberty Global delivering unique expertise and technology know-how. We look forward to partnering even closer with Technetix as a result of this investment.’
Technetix supplies critical headend and access transmission systems for hybrid fibre-coax (HFC) networks. It plans to use the investment to expand its business opportunities and product range, by investing in next-generation platforms.
An indicator of its global ambitions, last year Technetix bought the Denver-based Arris Supplies unit from Arris Group. The latest investment will help the company to accelerate its expansion.
Paul Broadhurst, CEO of Technetix said: ‘We are excited about receiving this investment and further cementing the already close relationship we have with Liberty Global. We are resolutely focussed on delivering the next-generation technology platforms to market which form a key part of our customers’ networks allowing expansion, better efficiency while minimising total cost of ownership. The funding will assist in scaling our business in all areas to meet future growth.’
