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To: Johnny Canuck who wrote (39907)	7/16/2003 1:41:25 AM
From: Johnny Canuck	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 72034

Spectrum Signal Processing for sale; CEO says U.S. buyer is most likely Canadian Press Tuesday, July 15, 2003 ADVERTISEMENT BURNABY, B.C. (CP) - Spectrum Signal Processing Inc. is for sale and a takeover offer is most likely to come from the United States, the president of the B.C.-based technology company said Tuesday. The maker of military wireless communications equipment and commercial voice-over-packet technology disclosed late Monday that it is "pursuing strategic alternatives" after a weak second quarter. Detailed numbers will be released next Monday, but Spectrum said it lost about $2.5 million US in the three months ended June 30, on revenue of between $4 million and $4.2 million. "There's no beating around the bushes - the overall result is very disappointing," president and CEO Pascal Spothelfer told a conference call Tuesday morning. "Everything that could go wrong with wireless systems sales this quarter did go wrong." Results were more positive in the network solutions division, which contributed $2 million in sales, almost half of total revenue although it employs only 19 of Spectrum's 138 workers. However, its profit margins were under pressure. Spectrum began a shift in 2000 away from its legacy wireless business toward voice-over-Internet technology, which at the time was expected to take off. But Spothelfer said the company is still waiting to "land the breakout deal that could push us up into the next league." In the meantime, "the status quo . . . limits our growth" and the company needs additional funds. With equity markets "hesitant and impatient," Spectrum has hired CIBC World Markets to find a buyer for either of its business units or for the entire company. "We have the resources to operate our business - this initiative is about shareholder value optimization," Spothelfer stressed, adding that he expects "the highest number of interested parties" to be in the United States. While the company seeks "strategic alternatives to fuIly exploit its technology leadership," he said, it will conduct business as usual: "To get full value for Spectrum, we have to forge ahead." He added that no layoffs are planned in Spectrum's "very lean operation." Before Monday's announcement, shares in Spectrum (TSX:SSY), which peaked on the Toronto stock market at $13 Cdn in early 2000, closed at $2.19, representing a stock-market valuation of $33.3 million.