European online DVD rental firms join forces
- Added:
- Mar 30, 2006
The news comes as Glowria, which leads the French online DVD rental market, with over 10,000 titles, announced it had closed a third round of funding of $4.8m.
Long-time glowria investor SPEF Ventures was joined in this third round by new investor Credit Agricole Private Equity (CAPE): each invested $2.4m, bringing glowria’s total funding to $15 m.
The firm said the new capital will also speed its plans to roll out video on demand (VoD) in France and Germany.
Founded in 2003 in Munich, DiViDi is the number 3 player in the German market, has a catalogue of 7000 titles. It has grown organically and through acquisition: in 2005, DiViDi acquired DVD-Leihen, a small DVD rental company.
Although specifics of the deal were not disclosed, Glow Entertainment Group SA acquired 100% of the shares of DiViDi Entertainment GmbH.
Frederic Baschet, Vice President of International Acquisitions, Glowria, will serve as interim country manager until a permanent local country manager is put in place.
Mihai Crasneanu, founder and CEO of Glowria, said: “This latest round of funding allows us to strengthen our position as a European leader in online digital video entertainment, be it online DVD rental or VoD.
“The German market is the most important in Continental Europe, and we have entered it with a strong player that shares the same values as Glowria.”