Kaltura Executive Team — Company Photo
American video platform Panopto is looking to take over Israel’s Kaltura, which provides live and on-demand video SaaS solutions. Panopto is said to be offering $3 a share in its bid which would give Kaltura a $383 million valuation. And the $3 price represents as much as 27% above Katura’s share value at the time the offer was revealed.
Kaltura’s stock price rose sharply at the end of last week’s trading with the news of the offer. And this is actually the third buyout offer made by Panopto, with the previous price offered to be just $2.75 per share.
Panopto’s parent company K1 Investment already holds a 6.9% stake in Kaltura, so another 44% would give it a majority of its stock. However, an outright majority is not needed to take control of a publicly traded firm like Kaltura. Panopto needs only a large enough block of stock in Kaltura to have a controlling interest and convince other shareholders to accept its slate of candidates for the company’s board.
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The sad fact here is, unfortunately, that the %383 million valuation for Kaltura represents a 70% decline in its market cap since going public. A year ago the company went public on the NASDAQ, coming away with a $1.24 billion valuation at a share price of $10.
This is yet another sign of the affect that the worldwide economic crisis is having on the markets. There have recently been a few Israel Startup Nation firms that were forced to delay their planned IPOS, and some even had decreases in their valuations.
Founded in 2007, Panopto provides businesses and universities with an video content management system (VCMS), along with integrated tools for creating online presentations, recording screencasts, lecture capture, webcasting live events, delivering online training, and more
Founded in 2006 by its President Michal Tsur and CEO Ron Yekutiel, Kaltura offers a video platform, video management, video publishing, video streaming, interactive video, media management, media distribution, video portals, video players, video solutions, online video, mobile video, video conferencing, video communication, online meetings, meeting solutions, webinars, town halls, lecture capture, cloud tv, OTT TV, video cloud, video platform as a service, media services, vpaas, podcasting, and video messaging services.
Kaltura provides live and on-demand video SaaS solutions to thousands of organizations around the world, engaging hundreds of millions of viewers at home, at work, and at school. This is especially important during the Coronavirus crisis as the shutdowns have required countless people to work remotely. And with schools closed kids are learning from home.
