March 11, 2014

Prime Focus acquires Dax, adds cloud technology

LOS ANGELES — Prime Focus Technologies (PFT), the technology subsidiary of Prime Focus, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Dax, a provider of cloud-based production workflow and media asset management applications. The $9.1M deal will include an upfront payment with balance payable over three years.

As a result of the acquisition, PFT (www.primefocustechnologies.com), secures ownership of Dax’s Primetime Emmy award winning Digital Dailies solution, which is popular in television production. The agreement helps to accelerate PFT’s strategic expansion in North America and the vision to virtualize the content supply chain before, during and after the production phase.

Dax CEO Patrick Macdonald-King will now serve as president, responsible for North America. All Dax-related technical support, client services, product design and account management will remain in Los Angeles. The company is headquartered in Culver City.
 
“Our vision is to build the best enterprise platform for production on the cloud by taking a fresh look at media workflows through the lens of a studio that wants to efficiently collaborate across divisions with its entertainment content before, during and after the production phase,” explains Ramki Sankaranarayanan, founder and CEO of PFT. “Digital Dailies is one of the first significant entry points to production on the cloud. PFT’s Clear Media ERP platform, combined with Dax’s team and products, will accelerate the realization of this vision.”
 
“PFT has tremendous resources at its disposal,” notes Macdonald-King. “This marriage allows Dax to fulfill its vision and extends Dax’s support of file-based workflows across the enterprise. PFT’s arsenal of media-centric technology tools will drive the Dax product offering to a new level. For Dax customers, it’s important to note that all tech support, client services, product design and account management will remain in Los Angeles, but also expand to the PFT offices in New York and London to better service the East Coast and Europe.”