BSD.L Regulatory News (BSD)

17 Aug 2005 07:00

Emblaze Ltd17 August 2005 EMBLAZE SYSTEMS ACQUIRES VCON TELECOMUNICATIONS LTD. New acquisition expands wireless video communication technology to conferencing solutions for the enterprise markets over IP networks Ra'anana, August 17, 2005: Emblaze Ltd. (Emblaze or the Group) announces thecreation of Emblaze VCON Ltd following the merger of Emblaze Systems, awholly-owned unit within the Group that provides delivery and managementsolutions for video over wireless IP networks, and VCON, a leading videocommunication systems company based in Israel. Under the terms of the deal, Emblaze Systems will acquire VCON's assets,technologies, products, intellectual property and channel partner relationshipswhile continuing to enhance and leverage its existing business. Emblaze willhold 70% of Emblaze VCON. The acquisition does not involve any cash and will not impact on Emblaze's cashposition, revenue and profit forecasts for the current year. Further, it willnot result in any dilution of Emblaze shareholders interests. The merger creates a new global force in the fast growing market for deliveringnext generation audio/video applications over IP and 3G wireless networks.Emblaze VCON will operate from Europe, US and Israel, with a total 70 employees.It will deliver significant synergy benefits by bringing together complementaryproducts, technology, applications and distribution networks combining solutionsfor both the telecom and the enterprise markets. The acquisition extends Emblaze's business in the fast growing world of videocommunications over IP, doubling its total addressable market and client base inthe telecom arena and extending its reach to the global enterprise sectorsselling unique management solutions over IP for medium to large organizationsand businesses. Emblaze is committed to continue VCON's operations with its global client baseand partners and further increase the product and technology offering via thismerger. The combined client base include the likes of Renault in France, Italiangovernment, WIND Telecommunications in Italy, Telstra in Australia, Optimus inPortugal, Orange Suisse, Orange Israel, Telekom Austria and many others. VCON'scustomers will find in Emblaze a dynamic group that understands the developmentsand the future needs of corporate customers and service providers in the videocommunication arena. Emblaze Systems, provides frontline solutions and the backend systems to enableoperators to deliver rich media services. These solutions comprise software andservers delivering a wide range of mobile applications for next generationservices such as communications based services - rich media messaging, real-timevideo telephony and various person-to-person services involving rich media(chat, dating and others), entertainment and informational content services -live event broadcasts, on-demand (pull) content, and pushed content updates. VCON's product portfolio comprises a suite of management systems for enterpriseIP solutions including switching and conferencing in both audio and video. Thesolutions maximize performance over IP networks and facilitate interactivecommunications between multiple remote users. Guy Bernstein, chief finance officer of Emblaze, said: "This acquisition isanother major step by Emblaze to leverage its world-class IP and wirelesstechnologies for delivering rich content to address new fast growing markets. Weare confident that the merged business, spearheaded by Emblaze, will createsignificant shareholder value." Enquiries Emblaze Ltd.Doron Cohen, Hagit Gal +972 9 769 9831/339 Corfin CommunicationsHarry Chathli, Neil Thapar + 44 207 929 8989 About The Emblaze Group (Emblaze LTD) Emblaze Ltd is a group of companies sharing a common mission to provide telecomoperators with technologies, products and solutions for next generationservices: Emblaze Mobile, a new breed in handsets design and manufacturing;Adamind (LSE: ADA), a global leader in content adaptation (transcoding) forwireless operators; Visual Defence (LSE: VDI), a provider of wireless and IPvideo solutions for military and homeland security markets; Emblaze VCON,recently created from the merger of Emblaze Systems and VCON , is a leadingprovider of wireless video communications technologies and conferencingsolutions for operators and enterprise markets over IP networks and OrcaInteractive (LSE: ORCA), provider of Interactive Television IPTV middleware forVideo On Demand (VOD) and broadcast services, aimed at Telecom, cable and xDSLoperators. Emblaze Group is traded on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: BLZ) since 1996 andhas offices in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, China, Korea andIsrael. www.emblaze.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange