BSD.L Regulatory News (BSD)

10 May 2007 09:09

Emblaze Ltd10 May 2007 BLUEPHOENIX SOLUTIONS ANNOUNCES KEY STRATEGIC ACQUISITION OF ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA OFF SHORE FACILITY May 10, 2007 - Emblaze Ltd ("Emblaze" or "the Group") (LSE: BLZ) announces thatthe Formula Group company, BluePhoenix Solutions Ltd. (NASDAQ: BPHX), a leaderin value-driven legacy modernization, announced a strategic acquisition of anoff-shore facility in St. Petersburg, Russia. Based on analyses of near-term business needs and projections of future developments, BluePhoenix decided it was necessary to open a large off-shore center in St. Petersburg, Russia. The initial investment will be followed by additional payments based on a three year performance program, according to the actual contribution to BluePhoenix operating profit in 2007, 2008 and 2009. The acquired company is employing approximately 150 highly professionaldevelopers that will undergo training to support BluePhoenix's project deliverysystem and enhance its R&D department. St. Petersburg is close to BluePhoenix'sEuropean offices, and therefore is the perfect location to provide easy accessfor customers interested in post-modernization services from a location near, tothem. "With our projections of accelerated growth over the next few years, it is ourduty to increase our profit and maintain BluePhoenix's positive cash flow. The establishment of the St. Petersburg office is the most important step we have taken so far to support our global growth. I believe that within five months theSt. Petersburg office will be fully integrated into our global operations. Theutilization of the Russian office will save more than $3 Million per year, andwill reduce costs, while helping us to recruit new professionals and increaseour profitability," concluded Arik Kilman, Chief Executive Officer. About BluePhoenix Solutions (www.bphx.com) BluePhoenix Solutions (NASDAQ: BPHX) is a leading provider of value drivenmodernization solutions for legacy information systems. BluePhoenix's offeringincludes a comprehensive suite of tools and services from global IT assetassessment and impact analysis to automated database and application migration,rehosting and renewal. Leveraging over twenty years of best practice domainexpertise, BluePhoenix works closely with its customers to ascertain whichassets should be migrated, redeveloped or wrapped for reuse as services orbusiness processes, to protect and increase the value of their businessapplications and legacy systems with minimized risk and downtime. BluePhoenix's solutions serve companies from diverse industries and verticalmarkets such as automotive, banking and financial services, insurance,manufacturing and retail. Among its prestigious customers are: Aflac,DaimlerChrysler, Danish Commerce and Companies Agency, Europe Assistance, LawsonProducts, Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association, Merrill Lynch,SDC Udvikling and TEMENOS. BluePhoenix has 13 offices in the U.S., UK, Denmark,Germany, Italy, Russia, Romania, Cyprus and Israel. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange