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To: pat mudge who wrote (8534)	12/15/1998 9:59:00 AM
From: zbyslaw owczarczyk	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18016

Home - Yahoo! - Help [ Business \| US Market \| By Industry \| IPO \| AP \| S&P \| International \| PRNews \| BizWire ] Tuesday December 15, 9:04 am Eastern Time Company Press Release Walden International Investment Group and the CIT Group/Equity Investments Inc., Join Sonoma Systems Mezzanine Financing Round MARINA DEL REY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 15, 1998--Sonoma Systems, a leading broadband access equipment vendor, Tuesday announced the closing of its $13.7 million second round of equity funding, bringing the total Sonoma Systems has raised in 1998 to $22.7 million. The new investors in Sonoma Systems include Walden International Investment Group, the CIT Group/Equity Investments Inc., and, as previously announced in November, GE Equity Group. They join the company's existing investors of Crosspoint Venture Partners, VantagePoint Venture Partners and Lazard Technology to form a premier team of companies that have invested in Sonoma Systems in support of the fast-growing ATM multiservice access equipment market. The ATM WAN access equipment market is growing at 55 percent per year according to Vertical Systems Group located in Dedham, Mass. These investors are in addition to the key OEM relationships with Newbridge Networks Corp. [NYSE:NN - news] and Siemens AG for the MainStreetXpress Modular LAN Service Unit 36060 announced in June 1998. Jeff Matros, general partner of Walden International Investment Group, said: ''Walden is very excited to be joining the Sonoma team. Sonoma's market focus -- the ATM services access market -- is very high growth and contains no dominant access system vendor. We have tremendous confidence that Sonoma will be able to exploit this opportunity.'' Ken Walters, vice president for the CIT Group/Equity Investments, said: ''Our Livingston, New Jersey-based firm is excited about its investment in Sonoma Systems. Sonoma's products offer a low-cost, high-performance solution in one of the fastest-growing segments of the telecommunications industry.'' ''This investment is a vote of confidence for the ATM access market, our multiservice product roadmap and management and a major milestone for our company. The funding will further support Sonoma Systems' aggressive pursuit of a leadership position in the access market,'' said Gregory Koss, president and chief executive officer of Sonoma Systems. Sonoma Systems is pioneering new standards of integration and performance in development of broadband access systems for integration of data, voice and video. Sonoma Systems' target market, Service Providers, are deploying ATM because it is the best medium for cost effectively integrating data, voice and video networks. ATM provides cost savings by decreasing the number of access lines required by combining data, voice and video networks and providing virtual circuits. Sonoma Systems allows Service Providers to offer new and profitable bundled services. About Sonoma Systems Sonoma Systems designs, manufactures and markets high-performance ATM multiservice broadband access products for LAN to WAN connectivity. Sonoma Systems enables Service Providers to cost effectively leverage their new and existing broadband infrastructure to offer differentiated and profitable value-added services. Sonoma Systems has headquarters in Marina del Rey, with a technology center located in Marlborough, Mass., and sales and support offices located throughout North America and in the United Kingdom. Additional information on products is available on the Sonoma Systems Web site at sonoma-systems.com. ''Safe Harbor'' Statement 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 the timely development and successful acceptance of its new and enhanced broadband access products, the acceptance of new technology such as ATM, the impact of competitive products and the dependence on key partners and alliances. Note to Editors: Sonoma Access is a registered trademark of Sonoma Systems Inc. All other trademarks are owned by their respective companies.