Thomson Reuters expands digital content capabilities with Imagen buy

Global content and technology company Thomson Reuters has announced its definitive agreement to acquire cloud-native media asset management firm Imagen Ltd for an undisclosed price.

This acquisition will boost Thomson Reuters’ capabilities in managing digital content libraries.

Imagen, known for its highly customizable media management and distribution platform, provides fast, secure, and controlled access to digital content for businesses, sports organizations, and media companies. As part of the agreement, Imagen’s subsidiary Screenocean, a platform offering licensing of video and photo content globally to production companies and others, will also be under Thomson Reuters’ umbrella.

Following the completion of the acquisition, the operations of Imagen will be integrated into the Reuters News division of Thomson Reuters.

Paul Bascobert — Reuters President said: “The acquisition of Imagen will continue our plans to build a world-class experience for Reuters News Agency customers, making it easier for them to discover, access and manage the content they need to deliver a best-in class product to their audiences, while ensuring Imagen’s customers continue to get the outstanding service they are used to.

“With the addition of Imagen, clients will have the ability to seamlessly add media asset management services to store, manipulate, permission, distribute and monetize all their visual content.”

Thomson Reuters to acquire media asset management firm Imagen. Photo courtesy of Jason Zhang/Wikimedia Commons.

Founded in 1996 by Anthony Blake and Paul McConkey, Imagen has carved out a unique niche in video management. Its notable achievements include digitizing British Pathe’s newsreel archives in 2002 and setting up Screenocean, its content licensing business, in 2009.

Imagen transitioned to a SaaS platform in 2013 and has seen continuous development since then. Screenocean’s impressive library comprises more than 122 years of licensable clips and 20 million iconic images, making it a sought-after source of premium content for TV, film, education, advertising, and more.

Charlie Horrell — Imagen CEO said: “We’re delighted to become part of the Reuters family and are excited for the potential this gives us.

“The combination of Reuters and Imagen brings significant opportunities to reach new customers and better-serve existing ones. We look forward to a bright future together.”

This news follows closely on the heels of the recent Thomson Reuters acquisition of Casetext, a technology provider for legal professionals, for $650 million, demonstrating the company’s commitment to expanding its digital content and technology prowess.