Sanjay Gaikwad's Valuable Group, which owns the digital film distribution service UFO Moviez, appears to have found "value" is a service that just didn't take off, despite repeated efforts and infusion of investment. The Valuable Group has bought video-on-demand movie distribution service MovieBeam (site not loading), its assets, trademarks, IPR and alliances, which Disney, Intel, Cisco and other PE players spent over $200 million on, according to a release issued by the company. The acquisition gives the Valuable Group a presence in Los Angeles, and a development facility in Seattle. Gaikwad says that the Valuable Group will invest $100 Million over two years to roll out the service in North America, UK and other markets. They intend to be in three markets by the end of 2008. Ameya Hete has taken over as the CEO of MovieBeam. Cost of Acquisition The cost of acquisition is not disclosed, but going by MovieBeams history, and the fact that the seller has filed for bankruptcy, it's probably much less than $10 million. Don't buy the $200 million hype - the company was sold to its last owner, reportedly, for around $10 million, and the last owner filed for bankruptcy. Synergy with UFO Moviez UFO Moviez, a part of the Valuable group (which has investments from 3i and the Apollo International group), is among the largest digital film distribution services in the world, using satellites to digitally distribute films. The MovieBeam service involves digital distribution of films to set-top-boxes. The acquisition gives the Valuable…
