June 30, 2008
Espial Acquires Kasenna
Espial Group announced that it has entered
into a definitive agreement pursuant to which Espial will acquire all of the
outstanding shares of Kasenna in exchange for an aggregate of 4,722,224 Espial
common shares, which before giving effect to the transaction represents 51.2% of
the issued and outstanding shares of Espial and will represent approximately
33.6% of the issued and outstanding shares of Espial on an after-issue basis.
"Video services are critical for service providers" success worldwide. The
combination of Espial and Kasenna strengthens the leadership position of Espial
in the IPTV, hybrid IP-DVB and hospitality segments", noted Jaison Dolvane, CEO
of Espial. "The IPTV market remains early and fragmented, and service providers
are looking for clear leaders that they can bet on. Acquiring Kasenna provides
us with increased scale, expertise, product breadth and channel access to
position ourselves as the leading choice for service providers worldwide".
The combined operations will provide strong synergies including,
*Increased number of Tier 1 video service provider customers, a footprint in
over 100 customers worldwide with no overlap and a combined 2.4M+ IPTV licenses
in deployment for one or more of our products.
*Broader channel relationships with equipment vendors and system integrators.
*Larger sales force, support and fulfillment capacity across EMEA, Asia &
Americas.
*Broader product portfolio includes browsers, video servers, client & server
middleware, and applications.
*Differentiated best-of-breed technology with a strong patent portfolio.
*Strong balance sheet, financial and cost synergies that will be accretive to
Espial shareholders in 2009.
"This creates a company with 20+ years of video software experience. The
combined depth and strength of our product portfolios, customers, partners and
channel relationships, provides the right attributes to create an industry
leader" said Vivek Pendharkar, CEO of Kasenna. "Kasenna investors believe this
merger creates a winning combination and agreed to a majority share transaction
in order to participate in the growth of Espial. This increased scale and a
continued strong balance sheet positions Espial to capitalize on this market as
it matures".
The selection of a TV software platform involves a long-term commitment from
customers. Many global service providers have delayed or deferred decisions due
to difficulty in selecting the right partner in this early market. This
combination distinguishes Espial from the crowd, as a leading choice for service
providers in this important decision.
"Espial will work to support and enhance its relationships with all Kasenna and
Espial customers, partners and channels." Mr. Dolvane stated. "We will deliver
integrated solutions with a predictable roadmap, along with continuing to sell
component products for open and homegrown IPTV & hybrid IP-DVB video systems.
Partnering with ecosystem partners, including 3rd party middleware and VOD
companies will continue to be an important part of our strategy".
Espial and Kasenna are arm's length parties and, to the knowledge of Espial, no
insider of Espial has any interest, directly or indirectly, in the transaction,
no shareholder of Kasenna holds any common shares of Espial prior to the closing
of the acquisition and no shareholder of Kasenna, together with their associates
and joint actors, will hold more than 10% of the common shares of Espial
following closing of the acquisition. As such, the transaction will not
materially affect control of Espial.
Subject to regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other conditions of closing,
the proposed transaction is expected to close on or about July 9, 2008.
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