Corel Corp. made its first acquisition since it became a public company again, paying about US$192 million to acquire the assets of DVD software marker Intervideo.
The Ottawa-based firm said Intervideo would complement its photo sharing and editing products with a broad portfolio of tools to create, distribute and display multimedia content on PCs. Intervideo, based in Fremont, Calif., gained a stronger foothold in the market last year through an acquisition of its own. It bought Ulead, a developer of video imaging and DVD authoring software for desktop, server, mobile and Internet platforms such as DVD Movie Factory and PhotoImpact. Intervideo is also known for its WinDVD and WinDVD Creator line of products, which it sells online.
Corel, which has made forays into Linux, XML and other areas to boost its enterprise business, has spent the last few years retrenching in the consumer space following its takeover by Vector Capital, which started making shares available again in May.
CATA appoints government relations exec to take on procurementThe Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance said it has brought on an expert in government relations to improve the dialogue between Treasury Board and its members about controversial reforms to federal procurement policies.
CATA said Peter Thomas had joined its management team as government relations executive. Earlier this year, CATA and other IT groups said they were blind sided by a proposal from Treasury Board that it would begin a process to limit the number of vendors that compete on lucrative IT contracts. The government has also said it is considering electronic reverse auctions to reduce costs, a strategy that has riled Canadian resellers.