Post-production house Cutting Edge has sold its outside broadcast department to TV company Global Television.
The sale includes Cutting Edge's seven outside broadcast trucks: four B-Double HD trucks, two rigid SD trucks and one small HD OB van. It also includes related equipment and infrastructure, such as fly-away kits.
Thirty of the 32 contractors employed in Cutting Edge's OB division will be transferred to Global – the other two will be offered redundancy packages.
Cutting Edge said it had invested more than $40 million in its fleet of OB trucks, which were used to cover the NBL, domestic cricket, AFL, netball and golf.
Cutting Edge chief executive Michael Burton said the sale was not something the company had been seeking.
“We had not been actively looking to realign our business direction, however Global TV’s offer to purchase our OB division and merge the businesses made good sense, not only from a business perspective, but also the fact that their plans aligned with our staff, culture and long term goals,” he said.
Burton said the company now planned to re-invigorate its post production business. Earlier this year Cutting Edge expanded its Sydney headquarters and is currently building a new custom-designed facility in Brisbane.
"We see this as the finishing touch on a reset plan which will drive the company forward for the next decade,” he said.
Global Television chief executive Keith Andrews said: “Combining our resources gives us a broad range of facilities and deep pool of expertise to cover every type of event, from live sport to light entertainment and corporate events, integrating the best in broadcast technology with new digital workflows."
Global Television, which previously delivered the NRL Grand Final and Bathhurst 1000, plans to incorporate Cutting Edge’s HD and SD-tapeless workflow capabilities for live and near-live broadcasts.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission granted Global Television approval for the deal.