Monday July 31, 1:56 pm Eastern Time
Ex-Newbridge boss has big plans for small video firm
(UPDATE: In U.S. currency unless noted.)
By Susan Taylor
OTTAWA, July 31 (Reuters) - High-tech veteran Terry Matthews said on Monday he expects his Midas touch to transform the tiny start-up company he runs into a corporate
powerhouse matching the muscle of such previous efforts as Newbridge Networks Corp. and Mitel Corp.
Matthews, who sold Newbridge for $7.1 billion to France's Alcatel in February, said that Telexis Corp. has a new beginning with the name March Networks Corp. -- and C$16 million ($10.7 million) in equity financing.
The company, whose name reflects its March Township location in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata and the region of Wales
where Matthews was born, has just 53 staff and sales of less than $1 million per quarter. But Matthews, who said the company may go public in 2002, has high hopes.
``It took me 14 years to get to about 7,000 (staff) at Newbridge, right?...I'll be after the same kind of profile,'' Matthews said during a conference call on Monday.
``I believe I have the deep pockets that will enable me to get into it in a large way -- and I plan to be into it in a large way.''
Matthews is considered a high-tech pioneer in the Ottawa area where he created Mitel (Toronto:MLT.TO - news) in 1972
with Michael Cowpland, who is now chief executive of Corel Corp. (Toronto:COR.TO - news). Matthews began Newbridge
-- which was put on the sale block after repeatedly missing analyst estimates -- in 1986.
March Networks makes Internet-based video monitoring and digital video recording devices that allow video to be transmitted over phone networks. The technology has an array of uses from monitoring hospital patients in their homes to recognising bank customers from felons, Matthews said.
Research from Cahners In-Stat estimates video services will reach 48 million homes in the U.S. with annual service revenues of $15.7 billion by 2004, the company said. A recent market study by Perey Research and Consulting suggests the U.S. market for corporate video services will hit $22 billion by 2003, March Networks said.
Matthews, who late last month took the top job at March Networks, also oversees venture capital company Celtic House, hotels, and a business park.
``I've started up a total of about 42, 43 companies, so this is not new to me,'' Matthews said. ``In this particular case, with March Networks, it's an area of business -- broadband multimedia applications -- which I think is frankly going to explode.''
The March Networks investment includes contributions from Celtic House, Royal Bank Ventures Inc., Ontario Teachers
Pension Plan Board, Skypoint Telecom Fund and several private investors.
Matthews, Alcatel's largest single shareholder with a 3 percent stake, also sits on an advisory group for the French network equipment supplier and is chairman for several Ottawa-area companies. Alcatel has an ownership stake in March Networks. |
