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Technicolor, the owner Grass Valley Group, has received a binding offer from San Francisco based private-equity firm, Francisco Partners for acquisition.

The offer has valued the business at $100 million and looks to acquire 100% stake in Grass Valley Broadcast & Professional business. Post the acquisition the business would continue to operate as Grass Valley, says the offer.

Technicolor, formerly Thomson, had put up the broadcast equipment division on sale more than 18 months ago. Thomson had mentioned that the Company was restructuring its operations in order to concentrate on the services to content creators in the movie and media industries.

Grass Valley Group was established 50 years ago by Dr. Donald Hare. The Grass Valley Group has changed powers since then various times. In 2002, Thomson SA purchased the company in 2002 and had put it up on sale in February 2009.

In the current transaction, Francisco Partners has made offer to acquire all assets of Grass Valley Broadcast & Professional, which will includes camera, content repurposing, editing, master control, modular products, news production, production automation, routing, servers, storage, and switching product lines, the R&D centres and factories around the world, the sales & systems activities and customer support organisation worldwide, as well as the management and administrative support functions dedicated to the business.

The transaction also involves an $80 million promissory note issued to Technicolor, with a six-year maturity bearing 5% interest. The amount of the note represents the value of the business minus the present value of retirement liabilities transferred.

As per the information furnished by the two companies, Grass Valley Broadcast business has 1,457 employees (as of 30 June 2010) operating in 23 countries. The business recorded revenues of about 272 million Euros in 2009 and an operating loss of about 52 million Euros. In 2009, the Broadcast activity accounted for 72% of the total Grass Valley perimeter revenues and 59% of the operating loss.

The transaction is expected to close before the end of 2010, subject to the relevant customary regulatory administrative approvals and consultations.