Tech company invests $16M in new business

Wireless communication firm xG Technology has acquired the assets of a United Kingdom-based video technology firm that specializes in hardware products for broadcast media and the safety and surveillance markets.

Sarasota-based xG will pay $16 million for the company, Hungerford, U.K.-based Vislink Plc, based on the terms of the binding agreement, according to a release. The purchase is expected to close by the end of the year, the release adds.

Vislink's hardware and related services provides broadcast communication links for live news, sport and entertainment events. The company also provides secure video communications for law enforcement, defense and homeland security applications. Its sales run rate for the year is between $45 million and $50 million, the release states.

“We believe that Vislink chose to sell the division to a purchaser that would operate the business as a going concern, versus financial acquirers,” xG CFO and co-founder Roger Branton says in the statement. “We further believe that the combined business will create a market leader in video technology providing scale and global reach.”

Founded in 2002, xG Technology (symbol: XGTI; recent price: $0.43) has more than 100 patents and pending patent applications. It specializes in providing wireless communications for use in challenging and rural operating environments.