APT Licensing Ltd. announced today the further expansion of its digital audio compression licensing business using the substantial proceeds from the sale of its former broadcast hardware division to the Audemat group, a leading manufacturer of innovative digital communications equipment to the television and radio broadcast industry and telecommunications operators. APT Ltd., the former broadcast hardware division and subsidiary of parent holding company APT Licensing Ltd., now joins the Audemat group of broadcast equipment companies, and continues to design and manufacture the successful range of APT branded WorldNet and WorldCast series of hardware codecs and mulitplexers for use in professional audio. Other recent acquisitions by Audemat include broadcast equipment makers ECRESO and Nortek.
APT Licensing Ltd., now officially trading under its brand name APTX, retains its proprietary apt-X audio compression technology and continues to research, develop and grant for use under license agreement its unique portfolio of low-latency, high-quality apt-X audio compression algorithms to electronics OEMs for use in digital and wireless audio applications, mainly in consumer electronics. Recent licensees of apt-X include CREATIVE, Shure, and Bluegiga (a Bluetooth module OEM): “Made for iPod” accessory makers JayBird and iSkin launch stereo Bluetooth headsets featuring apt-X in the next quarter. More major apt-X licensee partners in the global consumer electronics industry will be announced shortly. CSR, a leading wireless semiconductor provider, markets apt-X for BlueCore silicon based Bluetooth A2DP stereo applications though its eXtension Partner Program.
Commenting on the successful conclusion of this multi-million Euro deal with the France-based Audemat group, Noel McKenna, the CEO of APT Licensing Ltd., said: "Speaking on behalf of our staff and the board, I am sincerely delighted about this perfect match with the Audemat group. Today marks an exciting new chapter in the 20-year history of our apt-X technology, a high-end audio compression algorithm for broadcasters, and now consumers. The substantial capital raised by the profitable sale of our hardware subsidiary will be invested in our on-going mission to make apt-X the ‘must-have’ technology for highest-quality digital audio, especially in consumer electronics.”
Bruno Rost, the President of the Audemat group added: “Audemat is absolutely delighted to welcome the planet’s leading provider of hardware codecs and multiplexers to its expanding group of broadcasting innovators. APT’s broadcast hardware division has a powerful synergy with the capabilities, ambitions and culture of the rest of the Audemat group, and complements and strengthens Audemat’s value proposition to digital broadcasters and telecoms operators.”
Created in 1980, Audemat designs, develops and offers a complete chain of products for radio and television stations, telecommunication operators and regulatory authorities. In 2006, the Audemat group acquired ECRESO, a manufacturer of transmitters for FM radio and digital television; and in 2008, the group acquired Nortek, a broadcast test and measurement equipment manufacturer.
Under the terms of the sale, Audemat has signed a perpetual licensing deal with APT Licensing Ltd. to continue to incorporate both the apt-X and Enhanced apt-X audio compression algorithms in the APT branded range of hardware codecs and across the broadcast products of Audemat group. Headquartered in Belfast, APT Licensing Ltd. remains focused on developing and licensing the company’s core semiconductor Intellectual Property and audio compression algorithms, namely, standard apt-X, Enhanced apt-X, apt-X Live, and other application-specific derivatives of apt-X.