In a move that positions the vendor to play a more significant role in the emerging IPTV and mobile video worlds, Thomson announced an agreement to acquire the Broadcast & Multimedia unit of Thales. Additionally, Thomson announced a strategic partnership with Thales, the parent company, to provide content-management and distribution for what the two are describing as “high-value video content: for in-flight entertainment, security, and defense applications.

Under terms of the acquisition, Thomson will pay Thales about 130 Euros ($155 million) for TBM, which provides platforms for IPTV, video-on-demand and Mobile TV markets. The unit will be combined with Thomson's existing Systems & Equipment group, giving Thomson a near complete end-to-end solution encompassing software, distribution infrastructure, VOD services and set-top boxes. The deal fits in well with Thomson’s overall strategy going forward, according to Christoph Delahousse, vice president of networking for Grass Valley, a business within Thomson. “Thomson has identified triple play, especially IPTV, as a key part of its two-year plan,” he said during a conference call today. “Now with Thales we can provide every single piece of IPTV.”

Thomson said it believes the acquisition puts it in a position to be a primary provider of equipment and services to telcos deploying IPTV services.

“The acquisition of Thales Broadcast & Media puts Thomson at the center of the IP multimedia market,” said Yann Courquex, strategic marketing manager for Grass Valley. “We’re be providing the complete chain from compression to consumption.”

Key to the acquisition also is Thales’ middleware. That element currently is being used by a number of European carriers, including France Telecom, which according to Courquex has the largest commercial IPTV deployment in the world with almost 200,000 paying customers.