• Kudelski Group Overview
• Board of Directors
• Executive Board
• Historical Overview

Historical Overview

1951

Birth of the first portable recorder, the Nagra I.

1959

Release of the Nagra III.

1965

First Nagra SN (Série Noire), miniature device.

1984

First Nagra VPR-5 video recorder.

1986

The company is listed on the stock market.

1989

Canal+ adopts Kudelski's access control system for pay television.

1991

André Kudelski succeeds Stefan Kudelski.
First million analog decoders sold.
The company concentrates its activities on conditional access television.

1992

Creation of Nagra+, a joint venture with Canal+.
Launch of the Nagra-D, the first portable digital recorder.

1995

First order (from EchoStar) for a Nagravision digital system, marking the arrival of Nagravision on the North American market.
Dassault buys a stake in the company.

1996

85% of sales are achieved in the conditional access television sector.
Full conversion of the convertible loan (1986-1996) within the framework of a PEO.

1997

Nagravision breaks through in Europe.
Digital pay television becomes the company's core business sector.
Nagra Audio launches a range of high-end Hi-Fi products.

1998

Nagravision conquers the British cable market.
Creation of NagraStar, a joint venture with EchoStar.
Creation of NagraCard.
First systems offering mixed pay TV/Internet solutions.
Capital increase and 1st indirect split of the Kudelski share (5+1).
The stock appreciates by 210% (best performance on the Swiss stock market).

1999

First encryption systems designed for broadband networks.
Creation of MediaCrypt and investment in NagraID.
The company becomes a holding company.
Kudelski stock is listed on the principal market of the SWX Swiss Exchange.

2000

Investment in SportAccess.
The Group continues to expand in the field of the secure distribution of digital content over broadband networks.
Capital increase and 2nd indirect split (12).
Introduction of Kudelski on the SMI (Swiss Market Index) and MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International).

2001

Acquisition of SkiData.
Acquisition of Ticketcorner.
Acquisition of Lysis.
Acquisition of Livewire.
Creation of the e-prica and of AccessArena joint ventures.
The Kudelski share is split by 10.
A very volatile year for the stock.
Launch of a convertible bond of USD 325 M.
The operation is heavily over-subscribed.

2002

A difficult year for Kudelski, which suffers from the impact of difficulties in the television market, particularly in Europe, and the foreign exchange markets.
After a ten-year period of uninterrupted growth, the Kudelski Group issues the first profit warning in its history.
The company carries out an in-depth review of its structures and reduces its staff.
Creation of the holding company Nagra Public Access (grouping together the companies SkiData, Ticketcorner and SportAccess).

2003

Recovery of the digital TV market.
Major new contracts in Asia and in the Americas.
Nagravision sets the Conditional Access Standards in Germany with the win of Premiere and other cable operators.
Acquisition of MediaGuard, the conditional access business of Canal+ Technologies. The Kudelski Group becomes world leader on the conditional access market.

2004

The Group publishes record results.
The Group deploys its security technologies into new sectors such as television on mobiles phones.
Success of new business models such as cards with pre-determined access rights giving access to premium content on a temporary basis.
Excellent progress on the markets: the Group tripled its digital TV revenues in Europe and almost doubled them in America.

2005

The Group announces strong growth in renevues and profitability for fiscal year 2005.
Early redemption of the USD 325 million convertible bond and issuance of a new convertible bond of CHF 350 million.
Strong penetration of the IPTV and mobile TV markets.
Creation of Quative Ltd in the IPTV sector.
New Nagra Public Access structure and introduction of several new solutions. NPA figures are positive again.
Sale of majority stake of Ticketcorner.
The Nagra PMA amplifier of pyramidal shape receives two prestigiousawards in Japan and the United States.

2006

The Group publishes record financial results.
The Group becomes a leader in middleware and interactivity for digital TV with the acquisition of a controlling interest in OpenTV (finalized in January 2007).
Acquisition of the Digital TV activity of SCM Microsystems resulting in the creation of SmarDTV.
Massive consumer acceptance of new solutions such as IPTV and mobile TV solutions.
Strong growth in profitability for Nagra Public Access.