Verizon (NYSE:VZ) has signed an agreement to acquire the technology and software that underlies Vessel's online video subscription service, which provides early access to videos from online video stars, and to hire most of Vessel's employees. The acquisition is intended to accelerate Verizon's OTT video efforts and rollout of enhanced content discovery and other features.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition is subject to the satisfaction of several closing conditions and is expected to close later this month.
"When we examined and evaluated all that the Vessel team has executed to date and their technical strengths in areas of content discovery, recommendation, OTT subscription management and user experience management, we were able to identify a number of ways this was a smart pairing," said Chip Canter, GM of Verizon Entertainment.