ScanSoft Inc. Acquires Photo Imaging Products and Technology from
MetaCreations
biz.yahoo.com
PEABODY, Mass., Jun 30, 1999 (BUSINESS WIRE via COMTEX) --
Three Award-Winning Products and Leading Edge Photo Imaging Technology
Strengthen ScanSoft's Presence in the Rapidly Growing Digital Photo
Imaging Market
ScanSoft Inc. (Nasdaq:SSFT), a leading provider of digital imaging
and optical character recognition (OCR) software, and MetaCreations
Corp. (Nasdaq:MCRE), the Creative Web company, today jointly announced
that ScanSoft has acquired and licensed certain photo imaging software
products and technology from MetaCreations.
The specific products included in the agreement are Kai's Super
GOO(TM), a top-selling liquid photo imaging application; Kai's Photo
Soap(TM) 2, award-winning photo editing software that lets users
enhance, edit and share photos via the Internet; and Kai's Power
Show(TM) that allows users to create high-impact multimedia photo shows
and business presentations. All three products are Microsoft(R) Windows
and Apple(R) Macintosh(TM) compatible.
Kristy Holch, principal of InfoTrends Research Group, said, "Our
research shows that the most-used applications for scanning are image
editing and OCR. Image editing is also the leading application for
digital camera users. This move by ScanSoft will give users a respected
single source for imaging software." According to InfoTrends Research
Group, 10 million mass-market scanners and 1.8 million low-end digital
cameras will ship this year in North America. The scanner and digital
camera markets are expected to grow at a compound annual grow rate of
23% and 38%, reaching 19.5 million and 6.8million units respectively by
2003.
"The combination of MetaCreations' well-regarded photo imaging products
and technology, and ScanSoft's leadership in OCR and document imaging
software gives us an unprecedented opportunity to provide the broadest
range of digital imaging software to meet the needs of home, small and
medium sized business and corporate markets," said Michael Tivnan,
president and chief executive officer of ScanSoft.
The acquisition is expected to generate new partnerships with leading
vendors in the digital camera market while at the same time allow
ScanSoft to add more value to their current partners' solutions for the
desktop scanner market. The acquisition also adds premier digital
imaging partners Apple, Eastman Kodak and Intel to ScanSoft's already
impressive list of major OEMs.
"This agreement supports MetaCreations' strategy to focus the company
on delivering premier 2D and 3D professional graphics technologies, and
its Internet business for e-commerce visualization.. This is another in
a series of steps already undertaken to help the company capitalize on
the e-commerce market opportunity. ScanSoft is an ideal company to
acquire our photo imaging products, as they will transition smoothly
into ScanSoft's well-established retail channel and strong OEM
partnerships," said Gary Lauer, president and CEO ofMetaCreations.
ScanSoft expects the transaction to be neutral to slightly positive on
total year 1999 earnings and accretive thereafter. The consideration
includes $2.6 million in cash and a note, and up to $950,000 in assumed
liabilities. The deal also includes contingent financial performance
incentive payments to MetaCreations of up to $1 million. Customer
support for the acquired products will continue to be handled by
MetaCreations until Dec. 31,1999.
About ScanSoft Inc.
ScanSoft Inc. is a leading developer of digital imaging and optical
character recognition (OCR) software. The company's award-winning
products allow consumer, SOHO and corporate users to leverage the power
of their desktop scanners, digital cameras, and other electronic input
devices, to accurately capture and turn paper documents and photos into
digital files that can be easily edited, organized and sent through
e-mail and the Internet. ScanSoft's family of digital imaging software
includes Pagis Pro Scanning Suite, TextBridge Pro, PaperPort Deluxe,
PaperPort Scanner Suite, and ScanWorks. Today, there are approximately
1.5 million registered users of ScanSoft software.
ScanSoft has numerous strategic partnerships with the industry's
leading scanner and multifunction peripheral vendors. Companies already
using ScanSoft's cutting edge digital imaging technologies in their
product offerings include Brother, Epson, Canon, Compaq, IBM, Mustek,
Visioneer (Primax), and Xerox, among others.
Headquartered in Peabody, Mass., ScanSoft maintains a strong
international presence with sales and marketing offices in Reading,
England. ScanSoft products are available worldwide through distributor
and retail partners. ScanSoft is publicly traded on the Nasdaq exchange
under the symbol SSFT. Its Web site is located at www.scansoft.com.
About MetaCreations
MetaCreations Corp., the Creative Web company, is focused on
developing and marketing 2D and 3D visualization software for graphic
artists, and the World Wide Web. MetaCreations' Creative Web strategy
is centered on the company's MetaStream(TM) technology and employs an
array of MetaCreations' software development tools to accelerate the
creation of 2D and 3D graphics for online applications, and to make
fast, interactive use of photorealistic 3D on the Web practical and
pervasive. MetaCreations offers a complete product line of
award-winning professional graphics desktop software products available
in more than 50 countries.
The company is headquartered in Santa Barbara County, Calif., and has
development centers in Scotts Valley, Calif., and Princeton, N.J., as
well as an International Operations Center in Dublin, Ireland.
MetaCreations can be reached on the World Wide Web at
metacreations.com.
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters
set forth in this press release, including, but not limited to,
statements as to the perceived benefits of the agreement, are
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor"
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties
that may cause actual results to differ materially, including the
market acceptance, the impact of competitive products, and other risks
detailed from time to time in ScanSoft's SEC reports. ScanSoft
disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking
statements.
Pagis, TextBridge, PaperPort, PaperPort Deluxe and Scanner Suite are
registered trademarks or trademarks of ScanSoft Inc. All other
trademarks are the property of their respective holders. (c) 1999 all
rights reserved.
Copyright (C) 1999 Business Wire. All rights reserved.
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CONTACT: MetaCreations Corp.
Teresa Bridwell, 805/566-6274, Fax 805/566-6384
teresab@metacreations.com
or
Betty Franklin, 805/566-6289, Fax 805/566-6384
ir@metacreations.com
or
ScanSoft Inc.
Steve Ricketts, 978/977-2039, Fax 978/977-2409
ricketts@scansoft.com
or
Jeanette Mayer, 510/608-6486
investor_relations@scansoft.com
WEB PAGE: businesswire.com
GEOGRAPHY: MASSACHUSETTS
INDUSTRY CODE: INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET
COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS
COMED
MERGERS/ACQ
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