Tandberg Data Acquires Exabyte
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OSLO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 30, 2006--Tandberg Data (OSE:TAD) has acquired the U.S. data storage company Exabyte Corporation for USD 28 million. The merged company, with expected revenue of USD 215 million for 2006, will be the second largest player in data storage (OEMs not included).
Tandberg Data signed late last night an agreement to acquire all assets, rights and certain liabilities in the U.S. data storage company Exabyte Corporation. Tandberg Data pays USD 28 million which is distributed among a number of Exabyte's creditors. USD 22 million will be paid in cash at closing. The final closing of the agreement is expected to take place in the fourth quarter 2006.
Jointly, Tandberg Data and Exabyte will be able to offer a broad range of advanced storage and automation systems to small and medium-sized enterprises which want to protect ever more commercially-crucial business information. The merged company will have a strong position in Europe, the USA and Asia.
"Tandberg Data and Exabyte complement each other well in terms of both products and markets, and will jointly take a clear second place," commented Tandberg Data chief executive Gudmundur Einarsson. "We will double our size and step up among the major technology companies listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. A more advantageous size will give us better opportunities to build something even stronger, to the benefit of customers and shareholders."
"We are pleased to have reached an agreement for the combination of Exabyte and Tandberg Data," noted Tom Ward, CEO of Exabyte. "The complementary strengths of the two companies in the various geographic markets around the world will result in a truly global competitor in the storage industry. In addition, the combined product portfolios of the two companies will provide our customers with the full range of state-of-the-art, cost effective products and technologies to meet their needs. Finally, the operational synergies resulting from the combination will allow the new company to operate from a position of financial strength and stability in the future."
Two leading data storage specialists have now joined forces to create a major technology company. The merger is likely to yield cost synergies of approximately USD 10 million with effect from the first quarter of next year. Additionally, Tandberg Data expects to take out income synergies which have yet to be quantified.
"This merger opens opportunities which the two companies on their own could not have succeeded in realizing in the short term," Einarsson added. "That's important at a time when the computer industry is characterized by a powerful process of consolidation. We find that our dealers constantly want more complete answers to data security. With Exabyte's technology, we'll be able to offer better solutions for data storage and automation."
To finance the acquisition, Tandberg Data will issue a USD 35 million bond loan, which has been fully committed by Cyrus Capital. The bond loan will be structured as a senior secured USD loan; will carry a coupon of 11.50% p.a. payable in arrears, and mature in 2010, with a one-time installment of USD 5 million maturing six months after disbursement. The loan may be redeemed partially or in full by Tandberg Data in the period from and including the first anniversary of disbursement to the maturity at nominal value plus an agreed mark-up. Parts of the loan can also be redeemed during the first year if Tandberg Data carries out an equity issue, in which event the coupon can be reduced down to 10.15% according to an agreed scale. The loan will be employed to repay the two existing bond loans issued by Tandberg Data, to finance the acquisition and for other corporate purposes. Cyrus Capital requires that it be granted 2,500,000 warrants which each give the right to subscribe to a share at an exercise price of NOK 9.00 the first four years of the term of the loan.
About Tandberg Data ASA
Tandberg Data (http://www.tandberg.com) is a leading global supplier and manufacturer of professional tape information storage products based on the SLR(TM), LTO(TM) and DLTtape(TM) linear technology platforms. The company offers secondary storage products based on tape drives, autoloaders, libraries, media, software and hardware components for mainstream configurations.
These products are supported by all major operating systems and software applications to successfully operate in heterogeneous network information storage environments. All products are designed to offer several new generations of information storage products that meet the growing storage requirements of small and medium-sized organizations with scalability, reliability and backward compatibility features that ensure cost effective operation and long-term investment protection.
Contacts
Tandberg Data ASA
Gudmundur Einarsson,
+47-90-61-22-14
or
Live Haukvik Aker,
+47-90-92-38-27
or
Daly-Swartz PR
Jeffrey Swartz,
949-470-0075
jeffreyswartz@dsprel.com
