Acquisition

9 Aug 2005 14:00

Petards Group PLC09 August 2005 Petards Group plc ("Petards" or "the Company") Acquisition of PI Vision Petards, the AIM listed developer of advanced surveillance systems, announcesthat it has acquired the business and certain assets of PI Vision Limited and PIVision Inc (together "PI Vision") for a maximum total consideration of £1.64million. PI Vision are leaders in scaleable networked digital video recordingsystems. PI Vision's Universal Video Management System ("UVMSTM"), which wasintroduced in 2004, features advanced IP and analogue camera recording,distributed architecture, camera mapping and image replay functions which formthe backbone to new or existing CCTV systems. The system provides high endrecording performance, easy and powerful evidence delivery and full scalability.PI Vision was awarded the DTI smart award for technology innovation in 2004. PI Vision's UVMSTM system will integrate closely with Petards' Advantage commandand control software for complex CCTV installations and provide extendedfunctionality. Both businesses will benefit from the extended reference sitesavailable to them. In year ended 30th April 2005, the business and assets being acquired generateda gross profit of approximately £0.9 million on sales of approximately £1.9million. Its systems are installed by government departments, transportoperators, museums, casinos, prisons and banks. PI Vision Limited, is based inSurbiton, Surrey and PI Vision Inc in Florida, USA. In consideration for the acquired business and assets, Petards will pay aninitial cash consideration amounting to £470,000. In addition, Petards will payup to £170,000 in cash, conditional upon the securing of certain orders in 2005,and will pay in 2006 an amount equal to the sum by which PI Vision's GrossProfit exceeds £1.6 million and a further conditional sum in 2007. The paymentsto be made in 2006 and 2007 cannot exceed £1 million in aggregate and arepayable, at the vendors' option, either in cash or up to 50% in new Petardsshares at the prevailing market price. David Hayes, Chief Executive of Petards said: "This is an exciting opportunityfor Petards to access the rapidly growing network video recording market and webelieve that the UVMSTM product has the potential to become a leading industryplatform. The acquisition will also enable us to cross-sell our Advantage suiteof software into new markets and is significant in that it gives us anestablished base from which to sell our solutions in North America where PIVision has a strong sales force and many valuable reference sites." David Myers, Managing Director of PI Vision Limited who will join PetardsLimited as Sales and Marketing Director said: "By being part of Petards we willbe able to capitalise on the opportunities for the sale of the new UVMSTMsoftware at a time when video recording for CCTV security systems is verytopical and there is an increasing trend from earlier generation tape-basedsystems to networked digital systems with all their benefits." The Company's trading in the first six months of 2005 was in line withexpectations. The Board expects in September to be able to make a furtherannouncement to that made on 4th July 2005 concerning the discrepancies in theaccounting for long-term contracts, at which time the audited 2004 accounts willbe re-issued and the interim results for the period ended 30th June 2005 will bereleased. For further information: Paul McManus, Binns & Co - Tel: 020 7153 1485, Mob: 07980 541 893 Andy Wonnacott, Finance Director, Petards Group plc - Tel: 01932 788288 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange