Hi All
Not a big deal (ASIC - indicated market value of $4.75-$5 Million US)...but perhaps some synergy between 3 companies with good performance.
July 10, 1996
Newbridge Networks Acquires A 30% Stake In Comverse Technology
Subsidiary Applied Silicon "ASIC"; ASIC Plans To Introduce
Digital Video Networking Technology For Video Transmission Over
Data And Telecommunications Networks
WOODBURY, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 10, 1996--Comverse Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:CMVT) announced that Newbridge Networks Corp. (NYSE:NN) has acquired a 30% equity interest in Applied Silicon Inc. Canada (ASIC), a Comverse subsidiary, for CDN$2 million. Comverse now holds a 47.6% interest in ASIC.
The three-company alliance calls for ASIC to introduce digital video networking technology for video transmission over telecommunications and data networks. The new ASIC system, which will be marketed under the Videovise name, is expected to serve a range of applications involving the capture, transmission, viewing and storage of high quality video images.
"We are pleased to welcome ASIC to the Newbridge family of affiliate companies," said Terence Matthews, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Newbridge Networks. "ASIC is developing products which enhance the ability of Newbridge to provide our carrier customers with an opportunity for added service revenues, and enables our corporate customers to gain additional value from their existing networks."
James Arseneault, Vice President, Network Access Products at ewbridge, said, "We are excited to be working in close alliance with ASIC and Comverse, and are very optimistic about the market potential for the Videovise technology. Videovise target markets include video-based recording, networking, and logging for security and monitoring applications serving banks and other financial institutions, retail establishments, buildings, campuses and utilities, as well as applications in medical assessment and highway traffic monitoring."
The new technology from ASIC is expected to provide comprehensive solutions for customers requiring video/multimedia capabilities over networks, allowing users to acquire video, images, audio, and text at a remote site, transfer the data to a central location, log the data on a host computer, and allow for rapid retrieval and analysis by system operators. Through a bi-directional link, customers will also be able to, for example, control security cameras from a remote location.
The new ASIC digital video/multimedia capabilities are expected to be sold directly by ASIC, through selected OEMs, and integrated into the current and future product offerings of Newbridge and Comverse, including Comverse's ULTRA and AUDIODISK product lines, allowing Comverse to offer a complete multimedia solution to users of those two product families.
ULTRA is a family of multi-channel, digital voice/fax/data recording systems used by inbound call centers, outbound telemarketers, financial institutions, correctional facilities, emergency (e.g. "911") services and other customers requiring the logging of communications. AUDIODISK is a family of multi-channel, multimedia digital monitoring systems used primarily for law enforcement and intelligence gathering applications.
ASIC, based in Ottawa, Ontario, develops, manufactures and markets sophisticated video, audio, image processing and multimedia products for the security, public safety and law enforcement markets. Its products are based on five basic technologies: image processing, video compression, telecommunications, digital voice storage and retrieval, and database management. ASIC was ranked among Canada's fastest growing companies by Profit Magazine in 1994 and 1995, based on five year sales growth.
Newbridge Networks, headquartered in Kanata, Ontario, is a world leader in designing, manufacturing and servicing a comprehensive family of networking products and systems that deliver the power of multimedia communications to organizations in more than 100 countries
throughout the world. Newbridge products are the choice of an expanding range of customers which includes the world's 200 largest telecommunications service providers, as well as more than 10,000 public and private enterprises, government organizations and other institutions. Newbridge currently holds the number one position in the wide area Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and Time Division Multiplexer (TDM) switch markets, and the number two position in the ATM Local Area Network (LAN) market.
Comverse Technology, Inc., headquartered in Woodbury, New York, designs, develops, manufactures and markets computer and telecommunications systems for a variety of communications processing applications, including telephone-accessed, multimedia messaging and information processing systems marketed under the name TRILOGUE(R) and multiple channel, multimedia digital monitoring and recording systems marketed under the names AUDIODISK(TM) and ULTRA(TM).
CONTACT: Comverse Technology, Inc.
Kobi Alexander or Paul D. Baker, 516/677-7200
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