IMAX acquires streaming technology company SSIMWAVE Inc.

On September 22, 2022, IMAX Corporation (NYSE: IMAX) announced that it had acquired SSIMWAVE Inc., a leader in AI-driven video quality solutions for media and entertainment companies. 

Under the terms of agreement, IMAX acquired SSIMWAVE for consideration of up to US$25 million paid in cash and IMAX stock.  

Ontario-based SSIMWAVE enables streaming and broadcast providers to deliver the best possible image on any device for on-demand and live video. Four of the world's top-ten streaming media companies currently partner with SSIMWAVE to optimize video, including Disney, Paramount Global, and Warner Bros. Discovery. Its 30-person engineering team has mapped the human visual system to produce one of the most accurate measures of perceptual quality, which its AI-driven software applies to enhance video streams and files in real time. 

Founded at the University of Waterloo, SSIMWAVE's technology has improved the viewer experience of more than 150 million subscribers over billions of viewing hours to date. Its technology is protected with 50 patents and patents pending globally. SSIMWAVE has won a Technology & Engineering Emmy(r) Award (2020) and a Primetime Emmy(r) Award for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering (2015). SSIMWAVE was also honored as a Best New Streaming Technology winner in the NAB Show Product of the Year Awards in both 2022 and 2021.

Gowling WLG advised SSIMWAVE in this transaction with a team that included David Petras, Duncan Snyder, Adam Carlin and Fabiola Alvarez (corporate/M&A).