well here's something to irratate a few of you shorts...
Avant! Releases Breakthrough Products, Presents Facts Refuting Asensio's Claims
FREMONT, Calif., Jan. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is being issued by Avant! Corporation:
Avant! Corporation (Nasdaq: AVNT) has introduced its next-generation suite of products, offering the world's first and only commercially available tools for very deep-submicron (VDSM) design. Based on an industry-first common database, Milkyway(TM), these new tools will uniquely enable Avant! customers to overcome the technical challenges of designing next-generation IC's. These tools represent Avant!'s latest technological breakthroughs and demonstrate Avant!'s continuing commitment to meeting the needs of its customers.
Avant! is a leading worldwide supplier of IC design tools. Almost all of the world's large semiconductor companies currently use Avant! products. This week, Avant! re-affirmed its ongoing market strength by announcing new multi-year deals totaling $57 million of revenue with two major U.S. semiconductor companies.
Avant!'s fundamental business strength cannot be obscured by the increasingly desperate tactics of short-seller Manuel Asensio. Asensio has repeatedly ignored the facts in his futile effort to justify his wrong-headed bet against Avant!.
Asensio's chronic ignorance of the facts is especially obvious in his recent "analysis" of Avant!'s latest new multi-million dollar, multi-year contracts. In fact, in his releases, Asensio states that "accuracy is not guaranteed" for his reports. Here are the facts:
* Both of the two latest announced Avant! contracts are for new and incremental business and for a broad range of products. Asensio's speculation that the contracts are "simply revisions of existing deals" is false.
* The revenue from these new contracts is incremental and will be recognized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles between January 1, 1998 and December 31, 2000.
* The net amount to be paid to Avant! under both contracts is at least $57 million.
* Contrary to Asensio's mistaken assertion, Avant!'s Aquarius customers with current maintenance agreements are entitled to upgrade to Avant!'s new Apollo product without having to "sign new contracts" as Asensio claims.
* Asensio demonstrates his fundamental misunderstanding of business when he criticizes Avant! for not revealing the names of its customers. Avant! did not disclose the customer names for competitive and contractual reasons.
Avant! Corporation is the fastest-growing company in the Electronic Design Automation (EDA) industry. Revenue and market share have increased for 12 consecutive quarters. In a national study released today, DeLoitte & Touche identified Avant! as one of America's fastest growing high technology companies.
Sophisticated investors recognize value and performance. They understand that a short-seller is motivated only to publicly bad-mouth stocks they are betting against in hopes of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. Asensio's misleading, exaggerated attacks may continue. Avant! expects its technological breakthroughs and business success to continue as well.
Fax: 510-413-8080. Worldwide Web: avanticorp.com.
NOTE: Avant!, Apollo, and Milkyway are trademarks of Avant! Corporation. All other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners and should be treated as such.
Except for any historical information presented herein, matters presented in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. The Company's future results could differ materially from the results presented herein. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed from time to time in the Company's public reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those discussed in the Company's report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1996, and including the risks discussed in the "Risk Factors" section included in the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-4 as declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 23, 1997. |
