The management group of a division of Pioneer North America has acquired the unit from its parent following Pioneer’s decision to exit the business of the subsidiary. The group has formed PDT Interactive from what was formerly Pioneer Digital Technologies Inc., a company that produces software for interactive program guides used by cable operators. “We ended up purchasing the stock of the corporation, and now we’re running the business as a standalone company,” said Neil Jones, president of PDT Holdings, which operates PDT Interactive based in Burbank. “We have all our same people and customers.” PDT is starting life on its own with about 65 employees and a customer base dominated by Time Warner Cable and Cox Cable, two of the industry’s largest players. But the company also hopes to make inroads with the large number of smaller cable providers that dot the landscape. “We have two of the top three (cable providers), but we have a lot of (prospects) between the No. 10 and No. 20 ranking and a bunch below 20 as well,” Jones said. Jones, who worked for Time Warner Cable in a similar capacity until that company sold the assets of its software division to Pioneer, said he gave up on the idea of starting an entrepreneurial venture earlier in his career. “I had always thought about doing it, but as my career sort of settled in, it did seem less and less likely that it would happen,” Jones said. “But when we saw the opportunity, it was something that we embraced very easily.” Pioneer originally went into the software development business in order to support the set-up boxes it manufactured for cable TV when cable added digital technology. But as the PDT unit grew, it began working with other clients as well. And by the time Pioneer decided to exit the cable hardware business, its software unit had already developed a sizeable account base. “We went back and said, ‘how about if you just sell the company to us and we’ll take over the company,’ ” Jones recalled. The managers engaged Mosaic Capital, an investment banking services firm based in Sherman Oaks, to help manage the deal. “Management buyouts are not the easiest transactions because you have to balance the parent company’s desire to maximize value with the desire to have a continuing viable business,” said Chuck Troe, a managing director at Mosaic, who handled the transaction. “It can be a little awkward for managers running a business at the same time trying to buy it.” Still, Troe adds, the timing worked in the company’s favor. M & A; activity is strong and the interest rate environment is still favorable. At the same time, the continual churn of technology has helped PDT to expand its business. “Digital started getting going five years ago, and as it got to be a bigger part of the number of subscribers, high definition came along and new set boxes had to be developed,” said Jones. “Then DVR (digital video recorders) came out and we have to develop new software.”