Macrovision sells off licensing business - the end has arrived?

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Macrovision sells off licensing business - the end has arrived?

By Jon Gillespie-Brown | February 20, 2008

Well we could see this coming, but what does it mean for Macrovision customers?

Our friends still inside Macrovision tell us that there has been a ‘yahoo’ effect with most of the talented people gone or going, so will the new owners a "private equity investment firm" be able to attract new talent?

Thoma Cressey Bravo are clearly talented business turnaround experts but do they have the skills to make Macrovision better, or will the old business just end up in a rest home. TCB are clearly great negotiators as they have bought the ailing business unit for 2x revenues but with the old business needing the cash for their buyout ‘beggars can’t be choosers’.

Will they change the universally hated % charging model that current customers dislike so much or will they just try and milk those old customers?

With the Flex technology being 20 years old, will they start to re-invest rather than keep squeezing revenue out of the old technology?

There are far more questions than answers about the Macrovision licensing business.

But one thing is for sure it’s gone and who knows if it will be ‘back’ again with all the original innovators and engineers no longer with the business - indeed we don’t even know what they will be calling it.

I am sure they must be hoping their customers will stick with it when there are so many newer and better alternatives available in today’s competitive world.

For more details on the sale see the news release

Tags: macrovision, licensing, software licensing, drm, installshield