AT&T has announced plans to acquire Canada-based Quickplay Media Inc. to support DirecTV streaming offers it plans to introduce later this year.
The transaction, which is subject to pre-merger review in the U.S. and Canada, is expected to close in mid 2016.
Quickplay, currently owned by Chicago-based Madison Dearborn Partners, powers over-the-top video and TV Everywhere services. It currently supports AT&T’s U-verse TV Everywhere and soon DirecTV Now, DirecTV Mobile and DirecTV Preview, which will allow viewers to stream DirecTV content over the Internet.
The Dallas-based company will retain Quickplay’s more than 350 employees and contractors.
“Our strategy is to deliver video content however, whenever and wherever,” John Stankey, CEO, AT&T Entertainment Group, said in a released statement. “Quickplay’s multitenant IP distribution infrastructure, combined with AT&T’s leading scale in IP connected end points, will allow us to host and distribute all forms of video traffic.”
The announcement is the latest move in AT&T’s DirectTV strategy, which is expected to save the company $1.5 in cost synergies by the end of the year, executives reported in the latest earnings call. The company has been rolling out bundled packages as well as integrating the TV service to create new installation efficiencies.
