ATI To Acquire NxtWave Communications; Key set-top chipset technology to provide complete solutions for customers.Business/Technology Editors MARKHAM, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 12, 2002 ATI Technologies Inc. (TSE See Tokyo Stock Exchange. TSE 1. See Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). 2. See Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE). :ATY ATY Air Textured Yarn (textile) ATY Watertown, SD, USA (Airport Code) ATY After-Tax Yield ) (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :ATYT ATYT ATI Technologies, Inc (stock symbol) ) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to purchase NxtWave Communications Inc. for (US) $20 million cash. The purchase agreement is subject to customary closing conditions and the satisfaction of certain legal conditions. The transaction is expected to close on June 28, 2002. A privately held company privately held company A firm whose shares are held within a relatively small circle of owners and are not traded publicly. , NxtWave Communications is an acknowledged technology leader in delivering broadband communications silicon using proprietary digital signal processing See DSP. Digital Signal Processing - (DSP) Computer manipulation of analog signals (commonly sound or image) which have been converted to digital form (sampled). technologies adapted for applications in digital terrestrial and cable receivers. The acquisition of NxtWave Communications will broaden ATI's set-top box product portfolio to include demodulation technology in the front end communications, in addition to its back end solutions with ATI's XILLEON(TM) products. The addition of NxtWave's technology will enable ATI (ATI Technologies Inc., Markham Ontario, http://ati.amd.com) A leading manufacturer of graphics chips and display adapters. Founded in 1985 by K. Y. Ho, Benny Lau and Lee Lau, ATI chips and boards are widely used by OEMs. to offer highly integrated chipsets to set-top customers providing lower cost and greater functionality. "The acquisition of NxtWave Communications is an essential part of ATI's growth strategy for our set-top business," said Dave Orton, President & Chief Operating Officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. , ATI Technologies Inc. "ATI has already secured significant partnerships and design wins with major set-top manufacturers including Pace Micro Technology and Scientific-Atlanta. The addition of NxtWave's technology will enable ATI to provide continued innovation to our customers and accelerate our growth in this space." "ATI has a great long-standing working relationship with NxtWave Communications and our two products are a natural fit for the set-top market," said Adrian Hartog, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Consumer Products Group, ATI Technologies Inc. "Customers will have immediate access to the combined offering of ATI's widely recognized XILLEON set-top chipset and NxtWave's industry leading products - providing customers with a 'one-stop shop' for the entire set-top solution. This strategic acquisition gives ATI the unique capability to offer customers competitive solutions that shorten customers' time to market and reduce system cost." NxtWave delivers advanced broadband receiver technologies, based on a world-class development team, including support for digital terrestrial COFDM (Coded Orthogonal FDM) See OFDM. and VSB (1) (VME Subsystem Bus) An auxiliary "backdoor" protocol on the VME bus that allows high-speed transfer between devices. It was faster than the main bus before the 64-bit implementation arrived. broadcast formats, and the cable QAM (1) (Quality Assessment Measurement) A system used to measure and analyze voice transmission. (2) (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) A modulation technique that employs both phase modulation (PM) and amplitude modulation (AM). format. For example, NxtWave's NXT NXT Next 2005 DTV Cable Transceiver and Terrestrial Receiver is designed for a variety of applications including cable digital television receivers and set-top boxes where cost and industry leading performance are critical factors. ATI's XILLEON groundbreaking design integrates a high speed MIPS (Million Instructions Per Second) The execution speed of a computer. For example, .5 MIPS is 500,000 instructions per second; 100 MIPS is a hundred million instructions per second. (R) CPU CPU in full central processing unit Principal component of a digital computer, composed of a control unit, an instruction-decoding unit, and an arithmetic-logic unit. , graphics, video, audio, conditional access, USB USB in full Universal Serial Bus Type of serial bus that allows peripheral devices (disks, modems, printers, digitizers, data gloves, etc.) to be easily connected to a computer. , EIDE (Enhanced IDE) An extension to the IDE interface that supports the ATA-2 and ATAPI standards. ATA-2 (Fast ATA) provides faster transfer rates (see IDE for details) and allows for multiple channels, each connecting two devices. , PCI (1) (Payment Card Industry) See PCI DSS. (2) (Peripheral Component Interconnect) The most widely used I/O bus (peripheral bus). , memory controller, and a host of other I/O capabilities that will combine with NxtWave technology to deliver a strategically advantageous solution for set-top customers. "NxtWave's commitment to develop quality broadband communications integrated circuits will go hand-in-hand with ATI's dedication to deliver industry leading set-top chipset technologies," said Geoff Phillips, Chief Operating Officer, NxtWave Communications. "ATI will offer customers the benefits of set-top technologies from two separate companies now delivered from one company as a unified solution."
Financial details of this acquisition will include:
-- ATI gaining approximately 55 new employees of which 50 are
engineers;
-- Additional expenses of approximately (US) $2 million per
quarter;
-- Mildly dilutive to earnings in fiscal fourth quarter of 2002;
and
-- Accretive to earnings by mid 2003.
ATI will host a conference call today to discuss the acquisition of NxtWave Communications at 8:45 AM EDT. To participate in the conference call, please dial 416-695-5806 ten minutes before the scheduled start of the call. A replay of the call will be available through June 19, 2002 by dialing 416-695-5800 with the pass code 1183181. Company Background NxtWave Communications Inc. (www.nxtwavecomm.com), offers the highest performing integrated circuit solutions satisfying the requirements of manufacturers of digital set-top boxes, digital TVs, PC TVs and other broadband appliances through the company's efficient and robust modulation and demodulation techniques. NxtWave's products provide error-free digital transmissions, even with severe signal impairments commonly present in cable and terrestrial broadcast systems. The company's exclusive technology gives manufacturing customers and consumers significant cost and performance advantages. ATI Technologies Inc. is a world leader in the design and manufacture of innovative 3D graphics and digital media silicon solutions. An industry pioneer since 1985, ATI delivers leading-edge performance solutions for the full range of PC and Mac desktop and notebook platforms, workstation, set-top box, game console and handheld markets. With 2001 revenues in excess of US $1 billion, ATI has more than 1,900 employees in the Americas, Europe and Asia. ATI common shares trade on NASDAQ (ATYT) and the Toronto Stock Exchange Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) Canada's largest stock exchange, trading approximately 1,200 company stocks and 33 options. (ATY). This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may be materially different from those contained in such forward-looking statements. The markets for the Company's products are characterized by rapidly changing technology, evolving industry standards, frequent new product introductions, emerging competitors and significant price competition. In the event that the Company is unsuccessful in identifying, developing, manufacturing or marketing new products or enhancing its existing products or maintaining its historic prices or margins, its operating results will be adversely affected. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from those in such forward-looking statements is contained in the Company's filings with securities regulatory authorities. ATI disclaims any obligation or intention to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Copyright 2002 ATI Technologies Inc. All rights reserved. ATI and ATI product and product feature names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ATI Technologies Inc. All other company and product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Features, pricing, availability and specifications are subject to change without notice. For Information: John Swinimer, Public Relations Manager, Consumer Products (905) 882-2600, Ext. 8456 or swinimer@ati.com For media or industry analyst support, visit our Web site at http://www.ati.com Other ATI Contacts: Pedro Cabezuelo, Senior Counsellor, BenchMark Porter Novelli, at (416) 422-7164 or pcabezuelo@bmporternovelli.com For investor relations support, please contact: Janet Craig, Director, Investor Relations, ATI Technologies Inc., at (905) 882-2600, Ext. 2631 or jcraig@ati.com
ATI TECHNOLOGIES INC.
1 Commerce Valley Drive East
Markham, Ontario Canada L3T 7X6
Telephone: (905) 882-2600
Facsimile: (905) 882-2620
www.ati.com
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