BELFAST AUDIO technology firm APT Licensing has sold its broadcast hardware division to French group Audemat in a “multi-million euro” deal. Neither side would confirm the exact size of the deal, but it is believed to be in the range of €6 million to €9 million.

APT will now focus on licensing its intellectual property and will trade under the APT-X brand name.

The proceeds of the sale will be used to clear debt, with the remainder invested in expansion of APT-X, chief executive Noel McKenna told The Irish Times.

As part of the deal, 40 staff will transfer to the new owners of APT Ltd, while another 15 will remain with APT-X.

APT grew out of research in Queen’s University, Belfast, and was founded in 1990. It initially focused on selling its high-end audio technology to broadcasters and film production companies. Its products were used to record sound for Stephen Spielberg’s Jurassic Park.

In recent years it established a licensing division to sell its audio compression to electronics manufacturers for use in digital and wireless audio applications.

Mr McKenna said that, having grown the hardware business by 400 per cent in recent years, the management team was focusing on doing the same with APT-X. It had a target of signing up one new manufacturer a month, which it was achieving.

Recent licensees of the technology include Korean electronics-maker Creative, Bluetooth module manufacturer Bluegiga, audio accessory-maker JayBord and professional audio firms Sennheiser and Linear Acoustics.

It is understood APT staff will remain in Belfast, and the firm will trade as a separate subsidiary in the short term.

Audemat manufactures digital communications for the TV and broadcast industries as well as telecoms operators.