Aether Systems to Acquire IFX, Europe's Largest Provider of Mobile Financial Information.Business Editors --OWINGS MILLS, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 6, 2000 $85 Million Acquisition of Technology-Rich Wireless Data Company Expected to Become Part of European Venture with Reuters Aether Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:AETH), a leading provider of wireless data services and systems, announced today that it has acquired IFX IFX - ["Type Reconstruction with First-Class Polymorphic Values", J. O'Toole et al, SIGPLAN Notices 24(7):207-217 (Jul 1989)]. Group plc, Europe's largest provider of mobile financial data, for $85 million. The acquisition will become a key asset in Aether's previously announced planned European wireless data venture with Reuters, owned 60 percent by Aether and 40 percent by Reuters. The new joint venture will be called Sila Communications and will develop and provide wireless data applications in Europe, initially focusing on financial markets. The company will be independently managed and headquartered in London. Aether plans to contribute IFX to Sila, providing a strong building block for the joint venture. IFX is an established company with a pan-European presence, operating regional data centers in Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Madrid, Paris and Singapore. Founded in 1992, IFX is the leading provider in Europe of real-time financial information services See Information Systems. on mobile devices. The company has approximately a 60 percent market share in countries where its services are available, including Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Benelux and Scandinavia. IFX is developing leading-edge technologies to optimize the delivery of data over the next generation of digital networks being rolled out across Western Europe Western Europe The countries of western Europe, especially those that are allied with the United States and Canada in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (established 1949 and usually known as NATO). . The company's "Value Added Value Added The enhancement a company gives its product or service before offering the product to customers. Notes: This can either increase the products price or value. Service Platform" (VAS vas (vas) pl. va´ sa [L.] vessel.va´sal vas aber´rans 1. a blind tubule sometimes connected with the epididymis; a vestigial mesonephric tubule. 2. ) application operates over today's European GSM wireless networks, as well as next-generation high-speed networks including GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) The first high-speed digital data service provided by cellular carriers that used the GSM technology. GPRS added a packet-switched channel to GSM, which uses dedicated, circuit-switched channels for voice conversations. and UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) The GSM implementation of the 3G wireless phone system. Part of IMT-2000, UMTS provides service in the 2 GHz band and offers global roaming and personalized features. . The VAS platform compresses, distributes and presents data in a way that allows wireless operators to quickly and easily offer a wide range of value-added data services to handheld devices including WAP phones, pagers and PDAs. Services include real-time financial information and trading, general news and sports information and vertical data services such as corporate information management. Using IFX's VAS platform, Sila Communications would become a prominent "wireless ASP" (applications services provider) serving the European carrier, enterprise and consumer markets. "The model IFX has followed is very similar to that of Aether in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , which makes this acquisition a very natural fit. We also started out by targeting the financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. sector before extending our wireless data expertise to other vertical markets," said David Oros, chairman and chief executive of Aether Systems. "By acquiring IFX and bringing the company's resources to our planned European venture, we will significantly increase our speed to market in becoming the leading wireless ASP in Europe." The market for wireless data services - such as web content, stock quotes, news, sports scores and customized information - is large and growing. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. research firm IDC, Western Europe will have 10 million mobile data users by the end of this year, with the number expected to reach 40 million by the end of 2002. "By combining the wireless data software expertise of Aether, the strong European presence of IFX and the brand name, content and market penetration Noun 1. market penetration - the extent to which a product is recognized and bought by customers in a particular market penetration - the act of entering into or through something; "the penetration of upper management by women" of Reuters, we will quickly create a strong new company poised for success," said Bo Kroll, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. and founder of IFX. The IFX acquisition is the latest step in Aether's strategy to become the leading provider of wireless data services and systems. Other recent moves have included the acquisitions of Riverbed Technologies (now Aether Software), a leading provider of enterprise mobile data management software, and LocusOne (now Aether Logistics), a leader in mobile data services for fleets of delivery vehicles. In March, Aether took a 27.5 percent interest in Inciscent, a new company formed with Metrocall, PSINet and other investors to develop wireless email Wireless Email or Push E-mail for enterprises is an email solution for small handheld platforms that is secure and managed centrally by enterprise server. Wireless technology adoption has seen a dramatic increase over the past few years. , Internet access See how to access the Internet. and other applications for the small office and home office market segments. In addition, Aether is a joint principal owner, along with 3Com Corp., of OmniSky, Inc., a wireless Internet service provider Internet service provider (ISP) Company that provides Internet connections and services to individuals and organizations. For a monthly fee, ISPs provide computer users with a connection to their site (see data transmission), as well as a log-in name and password. based in Palo Alto, Calif. About Aether Aether Systems, Inc. is a leading provider of wireless and mobile data services allowing real-time communications and transactions across a full range of devices and networks. Using its engineering expertise, the Aether Intelligent Messaging (AIM) software platform, the ScoutWare family of products (resulting from the acquisition of Riverbed Technologies, Inc.) and its network operations and customer service center, Aether Systems seeks to provide comprehensive, technology-independent wireless and mobile computing solutions. Aether develops and delivers wireless data services across a variety of industries and market segments in the United States and internationally. Aether is a joint principal owner, along with 3Com Corp., of OmniSky, Inc., a wireless Internet service provider based in Palo Alto, Calif. Aether headquarters are located at 11460 Cronridge Dr., Owings Mills, MD 21117. For more information, visit www.aethersystems.com This press release includes forward-looking statements based on our current expectations and projections about future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions about Aether that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the successful integration of IFX into the business of Sila and Aether, the continued development and customer acceptance of the technology and products developed by IFX, the continued development of new products by IFX after its acquisition and the market acceptance of those products, and the ability of IFX to offer products on a cost-effective basis. These risks and other risk factors are described under the caption, "Risk Factors" in Aether's most recently filed prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Aether undertakes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained in this press. |
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