Here is what's up Doc:)
Tuesday September 29, 7:18 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Dawson-Samberg Affiliates and Sierra
Ventures Invest $3 Million in Vertel
Private Placement Financing for Two Million Shares Will Fund the Acquisition of
Strategic Technologies
WOODLAND HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 29, 1998--Vertel Corp. (Nasdaq:VRTL - news),
a leading supplier of telecommunications management network (TMN) platforms and development
environments, Tuesday announced they have completed a private placement with the direct investment vehicles
of Dawson-Samberg Capital Management Inc. (Pequot Private Equity Fund L.P. and Pequot Offshore Private
Equity Fund Inc.), and Sierra Ventures for two million shares of Vertel common stock.
The Pequot Funds and Sierra Ventures each purchased one million shares of the company's common stock at a
price of $1.50 per share, which is approximately equal to the average closing price of Vertel for the five trading
days immediately preceding the sale. No warrants were issued with the sale.
With this purchase, Sierra Ventures has increased its holdings in Vertel from approximately 3.5 million shares or
14% of outstanding stock, to 4.5 million shares or 17%. This is Pequot's first investment in Vertel.
''Receiving investment from an industry leader like the Pequot funds and additional funding from Sierra Ventures
further validates Vertel's products and strategy,'' said Bruce Brown, president and chief executive officer of
Vertel. ''This injection of cash provides us with the ability to acquire strategic technologies that allow us to
capitalize on rapidly emerging market opportunities.''
''We're excited by the opportunity to invest in Vertel with their telecom industry software products,'' said
Lawrence D. Lenihan, Jr., principal for Pequot Private Equity Fund. ''They have clearly established themselves
as a leader in the network management market and have the ability to continue to be successful in what should
be a rapidly expanding market. Given the impressive list of customers and potential of this market, we feel Vertel
has a promising future.''
''Vertel is finally at the point of being a stand alone software business that is able to focus on the fast growing
area of intelligent network management and services in telecommunications,'' said Jeffrey Drazan, partner of
Sierra Ventures. ''Vertel has shed the encumbrances that held them back and is now primed to take advantage
of its leadership position in the networking software market.''
About Dawson-Samberg and the Pequot Family of Funds
The Pequot family of funds, along with its investment advisory accounts, has more than $3.5 billion in assets
under management. The firm's investment strategy focuses primarily on U.S.-based publicly-traded growth
companies in the information technology, telecommunications, health care, biotechnology, financial services and
consumer products industries.
The Pequot Private Equity funds represent a natural extension of the firm's investment expertise in high growth
industries to small capitalization public stocks and late stage private companies.
About Sierra Ventures
Sierra Ventures is a private venture capital firm that focuses its investments on early stage health care,
information technology-related companies and service businesses. The company works with entrepreneurs and
management teams to originate and build new companies into large and profitable businesses.
Sierra Ventures manages six venture capital partnerships, which together have more than $400 million of
committed capital. The funding comes from established financial institutions, university endowments and pension
funds. Other investors include prominent individual investors most of whom are founders, chief executive officers
or board members of major publicly traded technology companies.
Vertel Corp.
Vertel (Nasdaq:VRTL - news) develops and markets software for the management and operations of
telecommunications networks. The company provides advanced telecommunications management network
(TMN) solutions including communications infrastructure products, network management platforms, and
applications software for telecommunication carrier networks worldwide. In addition, Vertel serves
telecommunications equipment manufacturers, computer systems OEMs and Internet access providers.
The company is based in Woodland Hills, and has sales offices throughout the world. Contact Vertel on the
World Wide Web at vertel.com.
Note to Editors: Vertel is a registered trademark of Vertel. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
''Safe Harbor'' Statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Except for the historical
information presented, the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve
risks and uncertainties, including timely development, introduction and success of new and enhanced products in
existing and new markets, the acceptance of new technologies, the impact of competitive products, pricing,
currency exchange risks, governmental and regulatory developments including Vertel and their partners, and
other risks detailed from time to time in public disclosure filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) by Vertel.
Contact:
Vertel Corp., Woodland Hills
Vicki Vaughn, 818/227-1456
vicki-vaughn@vertel.com
or
Pequot Private Eq. Fund
Larry Lenihan, 203/254-0091 |
