GSBC to acquire Wallflower

Well, after my last post blasting GSBC's press release things have started to become a bit more interesting over on the other side of the world. Apparently the company is going to acquire Wallflower Digital, the makers of a different suite of digital signage applications, with the intent of using the firm's existing technology and software development resources to further its goals of dominating the Eastern hemisphere.

I have to admit that aside from buying Wallflower's customer base and influence in the Australia/New Zealand market, I don't quite understand the synergies that GSBC hopes to achieve via this acquisition. Normally, if you need a technology, you buy ONE company that has it, not two. Granted, I haven't looked at either m-cast or Wallflower's offering in any detail in quite a while (well, ever for Wallflower), but I can't imagine that they're that different just based on how they're positioned.

Perhaps GSBC is just looking for a way to jumpstart their sales operations, and are using Wallflower as a running start. The press release notes:

Wallflower will be announcing a roll out of kiosks for one of the world’s larges sporting goods companies.

Tony Scott said, “It’s a terrific opportunity for Wallflower to accelerate its international roll out with GSBC and the SmartScreen technology. It’s a great fit."

Scott continued “We bring to GSBC extensive experience in all aspects of Dynamic Digital Signage software. Our R&D team will provide GSBC additional depth and pioneering areas of DDS such as Advanced Analytics, Facial Recognition Analytics and new methods of media deployment."

Still, for a company to make two significant purchases (Wallflower, a 4 year-old Aussie company, sold for $20M) within the span of a week is quite unusual. And of course it's still possible that it's more of a ploy to boost speculation about stock prices in the weeks before GSBC goes public on the NASDAQ OTCBB.

Tags: Wallflower, m-cast, GSBC, digital signage

Wallflower says: ready for world domination

From the "I couldn't make this stuff up" department:

Synergetix, the maker of digital signage software called Wallflower, announced that they were "poised for world domination" in this press relesase. I didn't realize that any of the companies in our industry had yet formed an international alliance of evil, hijacked a sub full of atomic bombs, built a secret headquarters in a volcano, or done any of the other things I associate with such phrases. All sillyness aside, the press release is relatively devoid of news, though it does suggest that (for some, at least), the market is heating up in China, a'la this quote:

"We have been in India for some years now, but China is the most exciting market. We have a number of deals we have been negotiating there for some months."

He declined to give details, but confirmed the company was looking at a deal to drive 65,000 screens, while another could potentially see it involved with a 250,000-screen rollout in the US and UK, but mostly in China. Both deals should be confirmed in the New Year, he said.

I think I'll have to remain skeptical of pre-announced deals for very large networks by companies poised for world domination. Still, there's no doubt that while many companies have focused entirely on the US and Europe, there are established and emerging markets in Asia that deserve some attention.

Tags: Wallflower, digital signage, out-of-home advertising,