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FOCUS Enhancements to acquire TView
Mass.-based company to merge with developer of PC-to-TV multimedia products
WOBURN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 6, 1996--FOCUS Enhancements Inc., (NASDAQ:FCSE, FCSEW)
(BSE:FCS, FCSW) announced today that it has reached an agreement in principal to acquire TView Inc., located in Portland,
Ore., in a stock-for-stock exchange valued at $2 million.
TView, four-year-old developer of proprietary, high-quality computer to television multimedia products, has grown in excess
of 1,000 percent from its inception in 1992 through year-end 1995. TView's revenues exceeded $3.5 million dollars for 1995,
when it was named Oregon's fastest growing company. TView's line of PC-to-TV multimedia products are found at national
superstore chains such as CompUSA and Egghead. In addition, their products are sold by mail order companies such as
Microwarehouse and Multiple Zones, and are distributed nationally by Ingram Micro.
"We are pleased with this acquisition of TView, since ownership of TView's proprietary ASIC chip set and digital video
editing software takes Focus to a new technical level," said Thomas Massie, chairman and chief executive officer of FOCUS.
"This acquisition also ensures that we will keep our leadership in the PC-to-TV convergence market, which is estimated to
grow six-fold in the next 24 months."
Massie continued, "Independent market research reveals staggering numbers regarding future growth in the PC-to-TV
interface markets. Three independent market sources support this growth estimate: Computer Retail Week predicts TV
interface product will grow 375 percent in the next 24 months; a Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association survey
showed that 31 percent of respondents (consumers) said they were likely or very likely to buy a converged PC-TV in the
future; and Business Week said on June 24, 'The hungry consumer electronics business sees the next big thing, and it's the
PC-TV.'"
Massie added, "Since FOCUS Enhancement's launch of its first PC-to-TV product in 1994, we have experienced an 844
percent growth in our PC-to-TV interface products during this 30-month period."
Terms of the pending transaction, which is subject to a number of conditions, include the issuance of FOCUS' common stock
in exchange for TView stock when the merger closes, which is currently planned for the third quarter of 1996. TView's
co-founders, Thomas Hamilton and Steve Morton, will join FOCUS' engineering team in senior management positions.
FOCUS anticipates consolidating TView's sales, marketing, finance and administrative operations at its Massachusetts
headquarters.
Steve Morton, TView's vice president of hardware development, said, "The products of our two companies complement each
other, and should lead to even more technological advances. For instance, we are developing a proprietary highly integrated
multimedia scan converter chip designed to incorporate analog to digital, digital to analog, memory and scaling control logic on
a single chip for high resolution RGB to NTSC/PAL video scan conversion. This highly integrated chip will support input
resolution from 640 X 480 to 1024 X 768. This chip will provide full scaling, allowing the PC image to appear on the
television without cutting off information from top, bottom and sides."
Morton added, "It will also provide full-flicker reduction logic and offers composite and S-Video outputs, as well as RGB
outputs for European and standard SCART connections. The proprietary ASIC chip specifications incorporate zoom
capabilities for easier Internet viewing. This new proprietary single chip converter will reduce the size and cost for consumer
products such as TV set-top boxes, Internet appliances, multimedia presentation products, TV-ready personal computers and
PC-ready televisions. We currently expect that the product will be completed and will ship in mid-1997."
Tom Hamilton, vice president of software development, said, "TView's software design team is also currently developing a
high quality computer video editing system for videophiles and prosumers for the emerging digital camcorder marketplace,
which is expected to be released in 1997."
FOCUS Enhancements Inc. is an industry leader in the development and marketing of a wide range of proprietary multimedia
video graphics and networking products for the rapidly converging multi-billion dollar computer and television industries. The
company's products, which are sold through Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and resellers, merge PCs and TVs
for use in presentations, demonstrations, lessons and training sessions.
Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties,
including, without limitation, continued acceptance of the company's products, increased levels of competition for the
company, new products and technological changes, the company's dependence upon third-party suppliers, intellectual
property rights and other risks detailed from time to time in the company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. |
