AIT Advanced Information Technologies -
ISP division to be sold
Friday Oct 2 1998
Mr. Bernard Ashe reports
AIT Advanced Information Technologies has agreed to terms of the sale of its Rapid Eye division to the Commercial Systems division of the ADEMCO Group. The companies have signed an agreement, which calls for the transaction to close not later than Oct. 31, 1998. In addition, AIT has completed the sale of a majority interest in its AIT Recorders subsidiary which houses the Company's Comfile product.
AIT announced in August that it was divesting of the Interactive Security Products division in order to focus on its Identification Products division which is targeting passenger processing products for the airline industry and secure document workflow software.
The sale of the ISP division will permit the company to focus on its core ID business prospects, such as airlines.
ADEMCO is the leading manufacturer of burglar alarm systems in the U.S. alarm market. ADEMCO is a division of Pittway Corporation, a NYSE listed company with sales in excess of $1-billion (U.S.). Rapid Eye will be integrated into JAVELIN SYSTEMS, a major supplier of CCTV systems.
Under the terms of the agreement, ADEMCO will purchase the assets and assume the operation of the Rapid Eye division. ADEMCO has offered the employees of the division new employment and they will establish an R&D and product marketing group in Ottawa.
All rights to the Comfile digital audio product have been sold as part of the sale of the majority interest in the U.K. based company, AIT Recorders, to a group led by the U.K. management team. AIT will continue to own a 35 per cent equity interest in the new firm. AIT will not be contributing any further resources to the new entity and will sell its stake in the company as soon as is practical.
The combined effect of these separate transactions is approximately $1,400,000 in cash proceeds, before closing costs. In addition there will be a non-cash writedown of assets of approximately $2,700,000.
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