NEWS
For Release on September 16, 1997
Contact: Karen
Johnson
VisiCom
(619) 457-2111
Web: http://www.visicom.com
Email: kj@visicom.com
VISICOM
ACQUIRES UNIVISON TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Imaging Expertise Enhances VisiComs Multimedia
Product Line
SEPTEMBER 16, 1997, SAN DIEGO, CA - VisiCom announced today that it has acquired Univision Technologies, Inc. (Boston, MA), a provider of advanced hardware and software products for real-time image acquisition, processing and display.
"Univision has a strong reputation as a provider of quality, high-performance imaging products for a wide variety of applications, making this a valuable new addition to our growing line of multimedia board products," stated Cliff Cooke, president and chief executive officer of VisiCom. "We look forward to bringing the Univision and VisiCom staffs together to introduce imaging technology to our existing customers, to continue development of the next generation of imaging products, and to expand into new markets where imaging technology is rapidly gaining acceptance."
"VisiComs financial resources, engineering expertise, in-house manufacturing facility, established customer base, and sales distribution network provides the necessary strength to make us the premier supplier of imaging technology for commercial, industrial and government applications," stated Eli Warsawski, president and chief executive officer of Univision. "We share the same corporate vision of continually providing products and services that meet our customers stringent requirements for quality, performance and advanced technology for today and in the future. As members of VisiCom, we know this mutually shared vision is key to creating technology that meets and exceeds our customers expectations."
Univisions imaging products will become part of VisiCom Computer Products. All Univision employees will be retained and the Massachusetts office will remain open, housing the engineering, sales and marketing personnel for the imaging product lines. Senior Univision executives will remain with the organization as well, and will become part of the VisiCom executive staff managing the strategic and day-to-day operations of the organization.
Products and
Markets
VisiComs acquisition of Univision adds a new line
of flexible, high-speed imaging products and expertise to
VisiComs family of VME, Sbus and PMC video, audio and
graphics products. Univisions hardware and software
products target OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) and
sophisticated users developing applications in such markets as
medical imaging, simulation, training, industrial inspection, and
microscopy. The features required by these markets, such as large
lookup tables, reconfigurable logic, high resolution camera
interfaces and high resolution displays, distinguishes Univision
from other manufacturers of graphics and imaging products.
Univisions ability to merge graphics and imaging
capabilities, combined with easily customizable hardware and
software, make their products ideal for many unique and demanding
applications.
"I am especially excited about the combination of benefits between our mutual customer base" stated Cooke. "VisiCom has invested heavily in the research and development of Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology to reduce the expense associated with obsolete electronic components. Univision has been a leader in applying this same technology to the machine vision and medical imagery marketplace. This technology will directly apply to our current product lines and provide reduced costs to our customers over the product life cycle. VisiCom's goal of providing reconfigurable logic engines to satisfy changing customer operational requirements has taken a giant leap forward."
VisiComs line of board products address a wide variety of applications, industry standards, bus structures, operating systems and design requirements. Specific target markets include simulation and modeling, telecommunications, medical and industrial imaging, command and control communications, and satellite communications.
Corporate
Background
VisiCom is a $40M hardware and software product
innovator, value-added reseller, and systems engineering
corporation dedicated to providing real-time, open architecture
embedded solutions for industry and government computing
worldwide. VisiCom is headquartered in San Diego, CA and has
offices in Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Virginia, Washington
and the United Kingdom.
###
VisiCom Acquisition of Univision Technologies, Inc.
Questions and Answers
1) Why is VisiCom acquiring Univision?
VisiCom has long been a leader in developing and supplying video, graphics and audio board level products that address the military and industrial markets. With the addition of Univisions imaging products and technology, VisiCom is better positioned to meet the growing demand for multimedia capabilities not only in its core markets, but also in the markets where imaging is fast becoming the basis for information capture, display, archiving and critical decision-making processes. Univisions reputation as a premier supplier of imaging technology, its established base of customers, and its on-going development of new products and technology made it a perfect fit as VisiCom expands into the commercial arena.
2) How will the company be merged with VisiCom? Will Univision retain their company name, product names and locations?
Univision will become the Imaging Products Group in the VisiComs Computer Products division, which develops, markets and sells a complete line of multimedia board products, NTDS I/O boards, and real-time graphics software. Univisions imaging products will be added to the video, graphics and audio line, providing a complementary product category to address the needs of existing customers and to allow the company to expand into new market areas. Univision will not retain their company name, and will now be known as VisiCom. Their product line names will be retained, to maintain the value of their established reputation for quality, performance and superior capabilities.
VisiCom will maintain Univisions facility in Massachusetts, which houses the engineering, sales and marketing, and support staff for the imaging products. This also provides the company with a valuable presence in the region.
3) What will be the effect of this acquisition on staffing?
All current employees of Univision will be retained. Univisions executive staff will join VisiComs senior staff to continue guiding the companys strategic directions and to provide support for day-to-day operations. The imaging products and associated engineering, support and sales staff will be joined with the Computer Product division within VisiCom.
4) What has been the market focus for Univisions products and how will this apply to VisiComs markets? How will these new products be promoted?
Formed in 1986, Univision is a pioneer in the development of visualization products. The company designs and manufacturers frame grabbers, controllers and Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)-based image processing boards that plug into industry standard computers. Univision has an established presence in industrial and medical imaging, microscopy and simulation, where large amounts of visual information need to be enhanced, analyzed, and displayed, and which require decisions to be made based on high resolution visual imagery. Target markets include industrial inspection, medical imaging, simulation, training, and microscopy. Key examples of customer applications include luggage inspection, electronic microscope image enhancement and medical x-rays.
The acquisition of Univision brings a logical extension to VisiComs established line of video, graphics and audio board products. Imaging technology is fast gaining acceptance in the markets VisiCom is already a player in, specifically the simulation, training, command and control, and telecommunications. Univision has primarily targeted the medical industry and machine vision, where VisiCom has not been involved. The union of Univisions imaging technology with VisiComs video, graphics and audio products provides a larger product offering to address the needs markets where the company has not had a strong presence, and helps expand the scope of our products to address new applications and industries.
Univision will also benefit from having an in-house manufacturing facility to produce their boards. VisiComs Goldon facility will now take over the production of the imaging products, which will help the company improve quality control for these boards by having control over the entire production process to limit defects. Imaging product customers will benefit from this greatly, helping improve the market perception of the products quality and the companys ability to support them.
VisiCom will be addressing the imaging markets through advertising, trade shows, public relations, and speaking opportunities, specifically focusing on the capabilities of our board products and how they have been successfully applied to various customer applications and requirements. VisiCom has initiated an advertising campaign, and the imaging products will become a primary focus of the ads starting in November, 97. Univisions existing sales staff will be key to helping ėget the word out to the core customer base regarding the acquisition, and several mailings will be organized to notify customers and leads of the new products and services that are now available to them as a result of this acquisition. All product trade names will remain, to provide consistency and to take advantage of the existing value of product name recognition within the customer base.
5) What new product development will occur as a result of the acquisition?
VisiCom plans to introduce several new products during the coming year. One of the first announcements will involve a new imaging product this Fall. VisiCom will continue investing in research and development for all video, imaging, graphics and audio products to expand feature sets, to integrate with industry standard computers and operating systems, and to improve quality and performance in anticipation of customers future requirements. The company plans to expand both hardware and software product offerings to meet growing commercial, industry and government demands, either through research and development, or through new product/company acquisitions.
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