Cambridge investors hail Imagen sale to Thomson Reuters

Imagen Ltd, a cloud-native media asset management company based in Cambridgeshire, has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by Thomson Reuters. No figures are being disclosed for the acquisition.

Based in Willingham, Imagen has enjoyed backing from locally-based investors such as Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC) and Foresight Group.

Imagen helps sports organisations, businesses and media companies manage their content libraries with fast, secure and controlled access through a highly customisable media management and distribution platform.

It also owns Screenocean, a platform that gives production companies and others the ability to license video and photo content from around the world. Imagen and Screenocean will be operated as part of the Reuters News division of Thomson Reuters.

Imagen CEO Charlie Horrell said: “We are delighted to be joining the Reuters family and are excited for the potential this will bring. 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.”

Andrew Williamson, CIC's Managing Partner, added: “Imagen’s technology has set the standard for cloud-native digital asset management and content distribution in today’s connected, media content rich world.

“Imagen was one of CIC’s earliest investments and we are incredibly proud of what Charlie and his team have accomplished in a highly competitive market. We are confident that under Thomson Reuters' ownership, they will continue to flourish and reach even greater heights.”

Foresight Group has successfully exited Imagen after realising a 1.9x return. It originally backed the business in 2018.

During this time, Imagen generated annual revenue growth of c.35 per cent and saw headcount expansion in both the UK and internationally. Foresight’s original investment has supported international growth with many of the most prestigious US sports operators now customers. 

This is the seventh exit Foresight Ventures has achieved in the last 12 months, five of which have attracted US/Canada based acquirers. The Foresight Ventures team works from offices across the UK and Ireland and has representatives based in the US, Israel and UAE.