Sound Source Interactive Engages Investment Banker Wedbush Morgan Securities to Explore Strategic Alternatives
Business Editors & High-Tech Writers
CALABASAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 9, 1999--Sound Source Interactive Inc. (Nasdaq:SSII) Tuesday announced that it has engaged investment banker Wedbush Morgan Securities to explore strategic alternatives for the company.
Wedbush Morgan Securities has been an informal adviser to the company for a number of years and is active in the interactive entertainment industry, including the sole underwriting of THQ Inc.'s (Nasdaq:THQI) 1997 secondary offering.
Wedbush Morgan provides research coverage for leading interactive entertainment companies, including Acclaim Entertainment (Nasdaq:AKLM), THQ (Nasdaq:THQI), Activision (Nasdaq:ATVI), Midway Games (NYSE:MWY) and The 3DO Co. (Nasdaq:THDO), as well as related 3-D media processor manufacturer 3DFX Interactive (Nasdaq:TDFX).
Sound Source Interactive currently owns a significant number of exclusive worldwide licenses to publish interactive software, most of which include CD-ROM, DVD-ROM and software for dedicated game consoles, based on popular and evergreen children's titles and content.
These licenses include, but are not limited to: Universal Studios' "The Land Before Time," Harvey Entertainment's "Casper," Universal Studio's "An American Tail," New Line Cinema's "Lost in Space," Viacom's "Star Trek," Warner Bros.' "Free Willy" and Universal's "Babe."
The company recently announced the first of a number of new titles, "The King and I," which will be published in a joint venture with Morgan Creek and will be adapted from the musical of Rogers and Hammerstein.
In addition, Sound Source recently signed a broad international publishing and distribution agreement with TDK Recording Media Europe S.A., the European subsidiary of media giant TDK Corp. (NYSE:TDK). The objective of this agreement is to exploit with the international markets for Sound Source Interactive's licensed products, which could include a full range of software formats.
Over the past three fiscal years, Sound Source has enjoyed nearly 100-percent annualized growth in sales of its award-winning CD-ROM products. In December 1998, the company was ranked by PC Data as the seventh largest publisher, in unit sales, of educational software in the United States. This ranking reflected a 55-percent increase in unit sales over the same period in the prior year.
Despite this success in a consolidating industry, the company has been unable to exercise its rights to publish titles in DVD-ROM and dedicated game console software formats due to constraints imposed by its capitalization. The company has engaged Wedbush Morgan Securities to assist in identifying and, if required, in capitalizing opportunities through which the full value of the company's licenses can accrue to its shareholders.
Vincent Bitetti, chairman and chief executive officer, commented: "We are pleased to have retained the investment banking services of Wedbush Morgan to assist the company in realizing more fully the value of its assets. We recognize that the assets represented by our coveted exclusive content licenses and international publishing agreement with TDK are potentially much more valuable than that represented by our CD-ROM business.
"Wedbush Morgan Securities is both very familiar with our company and our industry, and we feel confident that the firm will be able to present to us the best of our strategic alternatives to achieve our primary objective of building shareholder value."
Wedbush Morgan Securities is a member of the New York Stock Exchange and is one of the largest investment banking and securities brokerage firms based on the West Coast. Wedbush Morgan's team of industry specialists has earned a reputation for excellence in delivering in-depth fundamental research to its retail and institutional clients.
Wedbush Morgan provides research coverage for a wide range of industries, including, but not limited to, interactive entertainment, toys and electronics. Sound Source's representative at Wedbush Morgan Securities is Michael Gardner, CFA, managing director of Capital Markets. Gardner may be reached at 213/688-4514.
Sound Source Interactive is a leading publisher of educational software in the United States. The company is a comprehensive, fully functional software studio, producing an expanding list of award-winning software products that are based on licensed content from major motion pictures and long-standing television series.
The company has exclusive licenses from Universal Studios (NYSE:VO), Viacom (AMEX:VIAb) (Paramount Pictures Corp.), Warner Bros. (NYSE:TWX), CBS Entertainment (NYSE:CBS), MGM/UA, Harvey Entertainment Co. (Nasdaq:HRVY), 20th Century Fox, New Line Cinema and Carolco Pictures. Sound Source has headquarters in Calabasas and trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol SSII.
Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. With the exception of historical information, the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The actual future results of the company could differ significantly from those statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: (i) There can be no assurance that any transaction will result from the company's retention of Wedbush Morgan Securities as its investment banker to explore strategic alternatives; and (ii) If any transaction does result from the company's retention of Wedbush Morgan Securities, there can be no assurance as to its consequences for the value of the company's common stock. Consult the risk factors listed from time to time in the company's reports on Form 10-QSB and 10-KSB and annual reports to stockholders.
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CONTACT: Sound Source Interactive Inc., Calabasas
Vincent Bitetti, 818/878-0505
or
Banchik & Associates, Solvang, Calif.
Doris Banchik, 805/688-2340
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS COMED ENTERTAINMENT INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET
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