Tata Communications, a global digital ecosystem enabler, announced on December 22 that it has entered into a definitive agreement through its wholly-owned international subsidiary Tata Communications (Netherlands) to acquire New York-based The Switch Enterprises LLC.

The Switch is the world’s leading provider of end-to-end live video production and distribution services covering top North American stadiums.

“Through this deal, Tata Communications will gain a strong foothold in the media and entertainment market in the US, expand its product portfolio into live video production, and become a unique player in an end-to-end media ecosystem across the entire content development value chain globally,” the company told the exchange.

Under the terms of the agreement, Tata Communications has agreed to acquire a 100% interest in The Switch Enterprises, LLC and some of its international assets for approximately $58.8 million (Rs 486.3 crore) in cash.

Closing of the deal is subject to regulatory approval.

Upon completion of the deal, Tata Communications will support Switch customers in more than 190 countries and regions worldwide. “Switch will bring state-of-the-art live production capabilities to help organizations produce high-quality, more immersive content faster and more efficiently,” the company said.

Announcing the acquisition, Dhaval Ponda, Global Head of Media and Entertainment at Tata Communications, said: “Tata Communications is already helping some of the world’s largest sports federations, broadcasters and OTT platforms navigate this disruption through our next-generation digital media platform. We can develop holistic, scalable solutions with the Switch team that include live and scheduled TV programming, leveraging pre-recorded and archived video to create new content, and all post-production.”