Gemstar International Group Limited and TV Guide, Inc. Announce Completion Of Their Merger
biz.yahoo.com
PASADENA, Calif. and TULSA, Okla., July 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Gemstar International Group Limited (Nasdaq: GMST - news) and TV Guide, Inc. (Nasdaq: TVGIA - news) announced today that they have closed their merger transaction upon being notified that the United States Department of Justice would not oppose the consummation. The combined company plans to change its name to Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. and will continue to trade under the symbol Nasdaq: GMST.
On October 4, 1999, Gemstar announced that it had entered into a merger agreement with TV Guide, Inc. in a stock for stock purchase transaction under which TV Guide would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Gemstar. Shareholders of both companies approved the merger at their respective shareholder meetings held in March 2000.
Henry Yuen will serve as chairman and CEO of the combined company. Peter C. Boylan III, Joe Kiener, and Elsie Leung will serve as co-president's and COO's of the combined company. These four executives will comprise the newly created Office of the Chief Executive. Additionally, Elsie Leung will serve as Chief Financial Officer.
About Gemstar
Gemstar develops, markets and licenses proprietary technologies and systems aimed at making technology user-friendly for consumers. Gemstar's technology and intellectual property are licensed to major companies in the consumer-electronics, satellite, cable and personal-computer industries, including Aiwa, Akai, America Online (AOL), Americast, Cox, Daewoo, Funai, GTE, Hitachi, Hughes Network Systems, JVC, LG Electronics (Goldstar), Matsushita (Panasonic, Quasar), Microsoft Corp., Mitsubishi, Orion, Philips (Magnavox, Philips), Quadravision, Samsung, Sharp, Shintom, Sony, Southern New England Telephone, Thomson Multimedia (GE, Proscan, RCA, Thomson), Toshiba, Uniden, US West and Zenith.
Gemstar has more than 90 issued U.S. patents in the general area of audiovisual technologies with more than 1,900 claims, and more than 90 issued foreign patents. The company continues to pursue a worldwide patent- prosecution program and has more than 115 pending U.S. patent applications and more than 320 pending foreign patent applications.
Gemstar is a leading provider of electronic program-guide services, which allow a user to view a television program guide on-screen, obtain details about a show, sort shows by themes or categories, and select shows for tuning or recording, all through the remote control. In the United States, data for Gemstar's electronic program-guide services are carried on the ABC, FOX, CBS, NBC, UPN and PBS networks. Gemstar's electronic program guide has been built into a number of models of new televisions, VCRs and TV/VCR combination units. Gemstar's electronic program guide is also licensed to cable, telco and MMDS service providers, and has been integrated into direct broadcast satellite receivers, digital and advanced analog cable set-top boxes, PCTV and other Internet devices and computer operating systems such as Windows 98.
Gemstar's VCR Plus+® instant programming system is a world standard for VCR programming. The VCR Plus+ system allows a user to record a television show simply by entering a number -- the PlusCode® number -- printed in television-program guides. The PlusCode numbers are published by more than 1,800 newspapers and television-program guides worldwide, with a combined circulation of more than 330 million. The VCR Plus+ system has been licensed to virtually every major television and VCR manufacturer and is now available in 40 countries and on six continents, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, continental Europe, Japan, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South America and South Africa.
Gemstar recently announced its entry into the electronic book (``eBook'') business through the acquisition of the two leading eBook companies, NuvoMedia, Inc., and SoftBook Press Inc. Gemstar's eBook technology has been licensed to THOMPSON multimedia, manufacturer and marketer of the RCA, GE and PROSCAN brand home electronics products in North America. Gemstar currently has agreements with all of the major book publishers including Random House, Simon & Schuster, Penguin Putnam, Time Warner Trade Publishing, HarperCollins and St. Martin's Press; major electronic book sellers including barnesandnoble.com and Powell's Books; major newspapers including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post; and major consumer magazines including Time, Newsweek, Fortune, Forbes, Esquire, Fast Company, and Industry Standard. Gemstar's Rocket eBook and Softbook Reader are the only two dedicated electronic reading devices currently available to consumers on the market.
About TV Guide
TV Guide is a global diversified media and communications company that operates three primary business units, TV Guide Entertainment Group, TV Guide Magazine Group, and United Video Group. TV Guide markets and distributes products in the United States to over 100 million cable and satellite homes every week. TV Guide also markets its products internationally in 45 countries. TV Guide Magazine and TV Guide Channel are the largest print and electronic guidance products in the world. TV Guide has unparalleled consumer reach with the following products and cable/satellite services:
TV Guide Magazine - 10 million circulation - 33 million weekly readers
TV Guide Channel - 54 million subscribers - 28 million weekly viewers
TV Guide Interactive - 40 million homes passed - 3.5 million
subscribers
TV Guide Online - >3 million unique users per month
The Cable Guide - 4 million subscribers - 9 million weekly readers
Sneak Prevue - 34 million subscribers
WGN - 47 million subscribers
KTLA - 3 million subscribers
WPIX - 4 million subscribers
Denver 6 Services - 3 million subscribers
TV Guide operates several other business units including:
Superstar/Netlink Group, LLC - SpaceCom Systems - Television Games Network - Knowledge Workers - TV Guide Media Sales - TV Guide Affiliate Sales - TV Guide Enterprise Solutions - TV Guide Worldwide - TV Guide Distribution, Inc. - InfoMedia
For up to date information about TV Guide companies, please access our Internet home page at www.tvguideinc.com.
Except for historical information contained here, the matters discussed in this news release contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including the timely availability and acceptance of new products, the impact of competitive products and pricing, the management of growth, and the other risks detailed from time to time in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including the reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q.
SOURCE: TV Guide, Inc. and Gemstar International Group Limited |
