InnovaCom to Acquire Antenna Technology Communications, Inc.
Worldwide Access to Bandwidth Capability and MPEG-2 Compression Technologies are Combined
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 3, 1996--InnovaCom, Inc., a designer, developer and manufacturer of advanced
semiconductor products for video and communications using MPEG-2 compression technology, today announced signing of a letter of intent
to acquire Antenna Technology Communications, Inc., a Mesa, Ariz., designer and manufacturer of satellite systems for business, government,
military and educational applications.
Arun P. Pande, InnovaCom chairman, and Gary S. Hatch, Antenna Technology Communications, Inc. chief executive officer, said the
acquisition would consist of a cash and stock transaction and is planned for completion within the next 30 days.
InnovaCom is a three-year old, publicly-held company whose president and chief executive officer is Mark C. Koz. Its symbol on the NASD
OTC/BB is MPEG. InnovaCom is currently developing a single-chip MPEG-2 encoder for satellite, cable, broadcast and consumer product
uses. Koz has indicated the company will begin deliveries of the single-chip encoding system, called DVImpact, in the first quarter of 1997.
Antenna Technology Communications, Inc., a privately-held company, was founded in 1990, and currently is operating at a profit. Sales for
1996 will approach $5 million. The company produces satellite earth station antennas including Simulsat multibeam antennas, inclined orbit
tracking systems, and high quality data and video communications including satellite high-speed data broadcasting/intranet technologies.
Its customers include corporations, broadcast and cable television, educational institutions and governments around the world. The company
has completed projects with AT&T Bell Labs, Microsoft, Central Intelligence Agency, NASA, NBC News, TeleCommunications, Inc., Cox
Cablevision, Time Warner, USSB Hubbard Broadcasting, UCLA, Purdue University, Televisa, Telespazio (Italy) and The Vatican, among
others.
Pande said: "As recently as the just concluded Comdex show, industry leaders including Andrew Grove at Intel have said the next billion dollar
companies will be the ones who are able to combine MPEG-2 encoding technology with access to bandwidth. Mr. Grove referred to a `war for
eyeballs,' projecting greater inroads by the PC into television's territory, as more and more software becomes available to bring video pictures to
PCs. This is exactly what we believe we will accomplish in this marriage by combining ATCi's worldwide and multi-industry bandwidth reach
with our headstart on cost and size reduced MPEG-2 boards that result from our single-chip technology."
Hatch said: "To date our engineering and sales teams have been extremely successful at working with major corporations, cable, broadcast and
government agencies around the world. ATCi has been seeking a partner with a background in MPEG-2 technology to assist us in becoming a
more powerful force in the compressed bandwidth delivery of video, voice and data information. This is a natural combination that we believe
will be a force to be reckoned with." |
