Altech to shed new light on market through Prism
February 25, 2006
Johannesburg - Altech on Friday announced it is bidding for listed technology company Prism, at a price of 116 cents per share.
On 9 February 2006, Nasdaq-listed Net 1 announced a firm intention to make an offer for Prism, at 102 cents per share.
Net 1 announced then that it had obtained irrevocable undertakings from Prism shareholders - including certain directors and employees holding 43 percent of its shares - to support its offer.
However this undertaking would only be valid if another party offered a premium of 10 percent or more on the Net 1 price.
The Altech premium on the Net 1 price is 14 percent.
Altech first showed interest in Prism in, when there were negotiations and it appeared that an offer might result.
However, the two firms did not agree to a deal at that time. Shortly thereafter Prism re-financed itself with a rights issue.
Since then, Prism has focused more on its core business, which has considerable attractions to Altech, being firmly within TMT areas in which Altech operates.
From the announcement it appears, in particular, that Altech will add strength to the international market development of Prism's specialised secure transaction technologies and chip/smart card products. These have wide application in e-commerce transactions in the telecoms, banking and retail sectors.
Prism has already gained business in these sectors, internationally, particularly in the Far East. Altech is highly experienced in developing technologies locally and exploiting them efficiently on an international basis - for example its UEC subsidiary (which recently pioneered the PVR product currently being promoted by Multichoice) is a world player in the satellite digital set-top-box (STB) space. It exports STB's to over 40 countries worldwide and enjoys a leading market position in Australia, with 160 staff employed there.
With the convergence of products and services in the TMT sector, Prism's technologies will complement those of Altech.
Craig Venter, Altech's chief executive officer said: "We have a high regard for the skills and competencies of the Prism people and we feel that they will have a promising future with Altech". - I-Net Bridge
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