Vizrt enters into LOI to acquire Ardendo of Sweden
Bergen, Norway, December 21, 2005. Vizrt Ltd. (Frankfurt Prime Standard, Oslo Main List: VIZ) and privately held Ardendo AB of Sweden have entered into a Letter Of Intent for Vizrt to acquire all outstanding shares in the Swedish company for USD 23 Million in an all-share transaction.
The deal is due to be closed no later than April 30, 2006, and is subject to satisfactory Due Diligence of both companies, as well as approval by the boards of Vizrt and Ardendo.
Ardendo is currently the fastest growing media management company in the world. Ardendo's revenue for the financial year ending June 30, 2005 was USD 5.494M, up 69% from the previous year, EBIT in the same period was USD 1.143M, a growth of 119% compared to the previous year and the EBIT margin for 04/05 was 21%. Ardendo has 50 employees.
The joined forces of Vizrt and Ardendo will have a profound effect on the industry in many fundamental ways. Vizrt is the world's leading real-time visualization company. By teaming up with Ardendo, Vizrt's comprehensive value proposition will not only enrich customer content but will also address the complete broadcast production process - every step from ingest to visualization.
Bjarne Berg, CEO of Vizrt commented, "Ardendo are experts at providing tools for ingest, archiving, editing, transcoding, playout and newsroom components. We plan to marry these with the real-time graphics components, mobile distribution and mobile (Viz|3G) visualization tools from Vizrt so we can establish an entity that will provide the world's first complete multiplatform production solution, unlike anything else on the market. For the first time this
will enable a media company to truly create once, use many times and distribute everywhere." And added Berg: "We have been discussing joining forces for more than two years now and I am really happy that we finally made it happen."
TV broadcasters and other media production units are today facing the challenge of acquiring large amounts of content, storing it, editing it, retrieving it and reusing it in standard definition, high definition, phone definition(s), the Web, interactive TV and podcasts - all platforms with individual requirements, capabilities and with a need for different presentation formats. In order to serve all these existing and emerging viewing platforms it is clear that there must be tools and a solution that allows content owners to exploit their assets without being overwhelmed by costs.
Jonas Engström, CEO of Ardendo commented, "Joining Vizrt and Ardendo software creates opportunities for a new class of integrated products. I am very excited about how this will make our customers thrive in the marketplace. In addition, the global presence of Vizrt will bring immediate benefits for sales and support of the current Ardendo product portfolio."
Ardendo has become the hottest name in its market sector in recent years. With customers like the CNN, SVT, Red Bee Media, RBB Germany, NRK, TV2 Norway and more than twenty additional broadcast customers around the world, Ardendo has established themselves as the front runners of this important emerging segment.
A conference call will be held at 12:00 a.m. (CET) on Wednesday, December 21, to offer analysts, investors and media the opportunity to directly discuss the announced transaction with Vizrt's and Ardendo's management. Please use one of the following dial-in- numbers: +49 69 2222 7111(Germany); +47 2316 2771 (Norway); +44 20 7784 1004 (UK). A replay will be available until December 22, 11:59 p.m. under +44 20 7784 1024 (UK) or +49 69 22222 0418 with Passcode: 3590040#
The deal is due to be closed no later than April 30, 2006, and is subject to satisfactory Due Diligence of both companies, as well as approval by the boards of Vizrt and Ardendo.
Ardendo is currently the fastest growing media management company in the world. Ardendo's revenue for the financial year ending June 30, 2005 was USD 5.494M, up 69% from the previous year, EBIT in the same period was USD 1.143M, a growth of 119% compared to the previous year and the EBIT margin for 04/05 was 21%. Ardendo has 50 employees.
The joined forces of Vizrt and Ardendo will have a profound effect on the industry in many fundamental ways. Vizrt is the world's leading real-time visualization company. By teaming up with Ardendo, Vizrt's comprehensive value proposition will not only enrich customer content but will also address the complete broadcast production process - every step from ingest to visualization.
Bjarne Berg, CEO of Vizrt commented, "Ardendo are experts at providing tools for ingest, archiving, editing, transcoding, playout and newsroom components. We plan to marry these with the real-time graphics components, mobile distribution and mobile (Viz|3G) visualization tools from Vizrt so we can establish an entity that will provide the world's first complete multiplatform production solution, unlike anything else on the market. For the first time this
will enable a media company to truly create once, use many times and distribute everywhere." And added Berg: "We have been discussing joining forces for more than two years now and I am really happy that we finally made it happen."
TV broadcasters and other media production units are today facing the challenge of acquiring large amounts of content, storing it, editing it, retrieving it and reusing it in standard definition, high definition, phone definition(s), the Web, interactive TV and podcasts - all platforms with individual requirements, capabilities and with a need for different presentation formats. In order to serve all these existing and emerging viewing platforms it is clear that there must be tools and a solution that allows content owners to exploit their assets without being overwhelmed by costs.
Jonas Engström, CEO of Ardendo commented, "Joining Vizrt and Ardendo software creates opportunities for a new class of integrated products. I am very excited about how this will make our customers thrive in the marketplace. In addition, the global presence of Vizrt will bring immediate benefits for sales and support of the current Ardendo product portfolio."
Ardendo has become the hottest name in its market sector in recent years. With customers like the CNN, SVT, Red Bee Media, RBB Germany, NRK, TV2 Norway and more than twenty additional broadcast customers around the world, Ardendo has established themselves as the front runners of this important emerging segment.
A conference call will be held at 12:00 a.m. (CET) on Wednesday, December 21, to offer analysts, investors and media the opportunity to directly discuss the announced transaction with Vizrt's and Ardendo's management. Please use one of the following dial-in- numbers: +49 69 2222 7111(Germany); +47 2316 2771 (Norway); +44 20 7784 1004 (UK). A replay will be available until December 22, 11:59 p.m. under +44 20 7784 1024 (UK) or +49 69 22222 0418 with Passcode: 3590040#
About Vizrt:
Vizrt is the world's leading provider of HD/SD real-time 2D and true 3D broadcast graphics. The company's software suite offers a complete graphics solution including: character generation, content management and newsroom integration, 3D tickers, virtual studio, 3D weather application with data integration, Curious Software map creation tools, virtual sports analysis, information display and virtual effects.
Vizrt is the world's leading provider of HD/SD real-time 2D and true 3D broadcast graphics. The company's software suite offers a complete graphics solution including: character generation, content management and newsroom integration, 3D tickers, virtual studio, 3D weather application with data integration, Curious Software map creation tools, virtual sports analysis, information display and virtual effects.
All Vizrt's graphics products are powered by a single core renderer, the unique and powerful Viz|Engine(TM). Vizrt's graphics solution goes beyond the visual aspect and includes highly customized user interfaces for the designer, operator, journalist and engineer.
The world's leading broadcasters, such as CNN, CBS, Fox, BBC, Sky, ITN, ZDF, Star TV, TV Today, CCTV and NHK as well as Production houses and Corporate institutions, including both the New York and London Stock Exchange, use the Vizrt's software suite. Vizrt is a public company traded on the Frankfurt Prime Standard and on the Oslo Main List: VIZ, ISIN: IL0010838154.
For further information please refer to www.vizrt.com
About Ardendo:
Founded in 1997, Ardendo is a software company with focus on integrated solutions for the broadcast industry. Ardendo delivers products and services for media asset management, ingest automation, digital archives, desktop media processing and system integration. The key strength of the Ardendo approach is the modular architecture which is built to serve customer requirements for scalability, availability and customized solutions.
From headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, Ardendo supports a growing global customer base. Ardendo has several high-profile reference installations of systems for IT-based processing of digital media. The current customer base covers customers in news, general program production, playout services and post production.
For more information visit Ardendo on the web at www.ardendo.com
Founded in 1997, Ardendo is a software company with focus on integrated solutions for the broadcast industry. Ardendo delivers products and services for media asset management, ingest automation, digital archives, desktop media processing and system integration. The key strength of the Ardendo approach is the modular architecture which is built to serve customer requirements for scalability, availability and customized solutions.
From headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, Ardendo supports a growing global customer base. Ardendo has several high-profile reference installations of systems for IT-based processing of digital media. The current customer base covers customers in news, general program production, playout services and post production.
For more information visit Ardendo on the web at www.ardendo.com
Press contacts:
| Bjarne Berg | Ofra Brown | SCHWARZ Financial Communication |
| President CEO | CFO | Frank Schwarz |
| +47 9055 7711 | +972 54 4955225 | +49 611 2058 095 |