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5 Jan 2009 10:02
The information contained herein is restricted and is not for release or distribution in the United States of America, Australia, Canada or Japan or to a US person or to residents or citizens of Australia, Canada or Japan.
DDD AND WISTRON CORPORATION ANNOUNCE MEMORANDUM
OF UNDERSTANDING IN RELATION TO £0.9m LICENCE
AGREEMENTS AND £0.44m INVESTMENT
Wistron to integrate DDD 3-D solutions with Wistron products
Santa Monica, Calif. (January 5, 2009) - DDD Group plc (AIM: DDD) today announces that on 30 December 2008 it entered into a memorandum of understanding ("MoU") with Wistron Corporation (listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange using stock code 3231, "Wistron") in relation to the licensing by DDD of its range of TriDef® 3-D solutions to Wistron and an equity investment by Wistron in DDD.
DDD and Wistron propose to enter into five-year licence agreements, whereby DDD will receive licence fees relating to the use of DDD's TriDef software and hardware technologies by Wistron in various markets. Non-refundable license fee payments totaling approximately £909,000 (US$1,322,000) in aggregate will be made to DDD upon the MoU becoming effective when Wistron is registered as a shareholder of DDD in accordance with the investment arrangements described below. Further information relating to the licensing terms will be provided as the 3-D products, including LCD TVs, are formally announced by Wistron. DDD expects to recognise the majority of the licensing revenues during the 2009 financial year.
Under the terms of the MoU, Wistron has agreed to invest £442,821 by subscribing for 12,652,025 ordinary shares of 1 pence in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") at a subscription price of 3.5 pence and has entered into a subscription agreement as part of the placing announced separately today. The investment will allow DDD to develop its business activities with Wistron as well as to focus on existing software and hardware licensing opportunities to address the growing number of 3-D consumer devices.
"We are pleased to welcome a company of Wistron's stature as a strategic shareholder in DDD," said Chris Yewdall, Chief Executive of DDD. "DDD's TriDef embedded hardware and software solutions are recognised as a critical component in the 3-D content solution required by manufacturers seeking to enter mass markets for 3-D products. Our partnership with Wistron extends DDD's market presence in the 3-D market."
Enquiries:
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DDD Group Chris Yewdall, President & CEO e-mail: info@ddd.com |
+1 310 566-3340 |
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Brewin Dolphin Sandy Fraser, Managing Director - Corporate Finance |
+44 (0) 131 529 0272 |
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Paul Mason, Assistant Director - Corporate Finance |
+44 (0) 141 314 8208 |
Past perfomance of the shares cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance.
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Wistron Corporation
Wistron Corporation is an original design manufacturer (ODM) whose customer base mainly comprises global, branded IT companies. Founded in May, 2001 from the Design, Manufacturing & Services) operations of Acer Inc, Wistron's product development focus is on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) products, including Notebook and Desktop systems, Servers and Storage systems, LCD TVs and displays and Networking and Communication products. Headquartered in Taiwan, Wistron employs over 30,000 staff with offices in Asia, North America and Europe. Wistron is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (Stock symbol 3231.tw or 3231.tt). For the nine months ended 30 September 2008, turnover and operating income amounted to approximately £5.8 billion and £111 million, respectively. More information can be found at http://www.wistron.com.
About DDD
DDD, also known as Dynamic Digital Depth, is transforming the viewing experience with applications for 3-D displays. Its patented technologies enable 3-D viewing with and without glasses; simple integration of computer games applications with 3-D displays; supply of 3-D content through 2D to 3-D conversion; and 3-D transmission over existing networks. DDD's shares are quoted on the London Stock Exchange's AIM Market (AIM: DDD).
Background
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A new category of flat screen LCD and plasma displays are being developed and marketed by major consumer electronics companies that provide stereoscopic 3-D images both with and without the need for the viewer to wear glasses. Stereoscopic 3-D images appear to have natural in and off-screen depth. 3-D displays have already been included in mobile phones in Japan and Korea and in desktop PC displays and notebook computers in North America and Japan. |
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DDD's solutions provide an important bridge between conventional two-dimensional (2D) software applications and content and the new 3-D displays. Normal 2D pictures, video and computer graphics images are manipulated by DDD's patented software enabling them to be displayed on 3-D displays without requiring the content to be created specially for a 3-D display. DDD's solutions also enable automatic conversion of virtually any media from 2D to 3-D without any pre-processing of the 2D image. |
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DDD licenses these software applications, marketed under the TriDef® and DDD Mobile™ brand names, to consumer electronics manufacturers for inclusion with the 3-D display products supplied to their end users. DDD also licenses its software directly to end users who already own 3-D displays and through an international sales channel. DDD's customers include Sharp Corporation, Samsung, Wistron Corporation and Arisawa Manufacturing Company. |
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In August 2008 DDD extended the agreement with Hyundai IT to develop the embedded 3-D HDTV processor for the Hyundai IT 32" 3-D LCD TV that is used with the BS11 3-D television TV network available in Japan. |
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In February 2008 Samsung and DDD entered into an development and license agreement to integrate DDD's TriDef 3-D real time 2D to 3-D conversion solution and 3-D image processing architecture in a custom 3-D image processing chip that will form the basis of Samsung's next generation 3-D HDTVs |
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In February 2008 Samsung and DDD entered into an agreement to supply DDD's TriDef 3-D Experience software solution as part of Samsung's 3-D accessory pack for their range of 3-D ready plasma and DLP rear projection HDTVs. |
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In February 2008 DDD delivered the first embedded 3-D HDTV processor for the Hyundai IT 46" 3-D LCD TV that is based on Arisawa Manufacturing's X-Pol 3-D materials. The TriDef Core processor decodes the 3-D television signal being broadcast to consumers in Japan on the BS11 TV network as well as converting high definition 2-D content to 3-D automatically. |
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In September 2007 Samsung launched a range of 3-D Ready DLP® rear projection HDTVs in North America. DDD's TriDef 3-D Experience software solution enables a range of popular entertainment to be enjoyed in 3-D and is available in various accessory packs including 3-D glasses. The 3-D accessory packs are available online from DDD.com and other retail and distribution channels. DDD also supplies software that allows popular PC games to be played in 3-D on the new HDTVs. |
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In July 2007 Samsung released the SCH-B710 'glasses-free' 3-D mobile telephone in South Korea. DDD entered into a development and license agreement with Samsung Electronics allowing Samsung to include DDD's 3-D mobile telephone software solution in Samsung's SCH-B710 3-D mobile telephone. The license agreement yields a royalty to DDD for each handset manufactured. Samsung renewed its exclusive rights for DDD's real time 2D to 3-D conversion capabilities for use on 3-D mobile phones in Korea in October 2006. |
More information is available at www.DDD.com.
Trademarks:
DLP is a registered trademark of Texas Instruments. TriDef and DDD Mobile are trademarks of DDD Group plc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
This announcement shall not constitute or form any part of any offer or invitation to subscribe for, underwrite or otherwise acquire, or any solicitation of any offer to purchase or subscribe for, securities including in the United States.
This announcement does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States of America. Neither this announcement nor any copy of it may be taken or distributed into the United States of America or distributed or published, directly or indirectly, in the United States of America. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of US securities law. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to or for the benefit of US persons unless they are registered under the Securities Act or pursuant to an available exemption therefrom. No public offering of securities is being made in the United States.
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