NDS Group PLC has consolidated its U.S. headquarters in Costa Mesa.
The unit, NDS Americas Inc., makes smart cards, software and other devices that go in set-top boxes to control access to digital satellite, pay-TV and Internet programming. Cable and satellite TV providers are customers.
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. owns 80% of Britain’s NDS Group.
NDS Americas recently leased about 70,000 square feet of office space at two buildings on Hyland Avenue. The value of the 10-year lease wasn’t disclosed.
NDS Americas consolidated two 25,000-square-foot facilities in Newport Beach and Lake Forest at the Harbor Gateway Business Center in Costa Mesa, said Dov Rubin, vice president and general manager of NDS Americas.
“We looked for one roof with an eye to expand in close proximity,” Rubin said. “The business park (in Costa Mesa) meets our needs.”
NDS Americas has been growing.
The unit has about 125 workers. This year Rubin said it’s hired about 40 employees and is looking for 40 more.
“I’m still desperately looking,” Rubin said.
NDS Americas is recruiting engineers to do work for its biggest U.S. client, El Segundo’s fast-growing DirecTV Group Inc., Rubin said. News Corp. owns a 34% stake in DirecTV, which provides satellite TV.
For more on this story, see the April 18 edition of the Orange County Business Journal.
