Lernout & Hauspie Investment Company Invests in Applied Voice Recognition.HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 12, 1999-- L & H Investment Company Backs Acquisition Program Of Internet-based Voice Recognition Company Applied Voice Recognition, Inc. (OTCBB OTCBB See OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB). : AVRI AVRI American Vintage Reissue (Fender guitars) ) ("AVRI") and L & H Investment Co. N.V., ("LHIC"), an investment company recently formed by Jo Lernout and Pol Hauspie, co-founders of Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products, N.V. (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 : LHSPF) ("LHSPF"), announced today that LHIC will invest up to $8.75 million in AVRI. The investment will be in $5 million of AVRI preferred stock Stock shares that have preferential rights to dividends or to amounts distributable on liquidation, or to both, ahead of common shareholders. Preferred stock is given preference over common stock. Holders of preferred stock receive dividends at a fixed annual rate. and the remainder in AVRI common stock. The preferred stock is convertible into common stock at $1.50 per share, and is subject to restrictions on transfer for three years. The companies also announced that Jo Lernout, Co-Chairman and Founder of LHSPF, will serve as a member of the AVRI Board of Directors. An additional LHIC executive is to be designated for a second position on the Board. Under the terms of the investment agreement, AVRI will receive $3 million initially and $2 million by February 28, 1999, based on the achievement of certain milestones. Investment of the remainder of the funds is based upon the exercise of warrants to purchase up to 3 million shares of AVRI common stock at the discretion of LHIC. In announcing the agreement, Jo Lernout stated, "LHIC's decision to make this major investment was prompted by AVRI's VoiceCOMMANDER 99(R) system, a state-of-the-art Internet and voice recognition based medical transcription
In addition, AVRI has entered into a licensing and co-development agreement with LHSPF. Timothy J. Connolly, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AVRI, said, "LHSPF is a world renowned leader in the field of voice recognition technology and Microsoft's investment in LHSPF clearly underscores its unique position in the industry. The LHIC investment in AVRI is a tremendous vote of confidence in our mission and acquisition strategy and we are honored that Jo Lernout has agreed to serve as a member of the AVRI Board." About AVRI AVRI develops and markets innovative voice recognition solutions for the healthcare information technology industry that allow professionals to immediately transform voice dictation into formatted text. Founded in 1994, AVRI has invested in excess of $13 million in voice recognition applications, leading to its focus on the healthcare information technology marketplace. Experience with major voice technology research labs such as Lernout and Hauspie, IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) , Dragon Systems Dragon Systems, Inc., was the company that created DragonDictate and Dragon NaturallySpeaking. It was founded in 1982 by Drs. James and Janet Baker and bought by Lernout & Hauspie in 2000. and Philips Dictation provide AVRI with the best industry support available. For more information regarding AVRI, please visit www.voicecommander.com. About LHIC Jo Lernout and Pol Hauspie, the co-founders and current co-chairmen of Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products announced the start-up of a new investment company to focus on strategic investments in information technology companies, such as speech and language. The new firm, Lernout & Hauspie Investment Company (LHIC), will operate separately from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products, a worldwide market leader in speech and linguistic technologies, products and services. MEDIA ALERT: Tim Connolly Tim Connolly (born May 7, 1981 in Baldwinsville, New York) is an American ice hockey player in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres Connolly played for the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League prior to 1999. will be in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 1999 and will be available for interviews. For information, please call Joe Mansi or Jeff Corbin at KCSA KCSA Krannert Center Student Association KCSA Kentucky Crushed Stone Association (Frankfort, KY) KCSA Kyiv City State Administration KCSA Kalamazoo Christian School Association KCSA Kentucky-Canadian Studies Association Worldwide @ 212-682-6300. This press release contains forward-looking statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. relating to relating to relate prep → concernant relating to relate prep → bezüglich +gen, mit Bezug auf +acc future revenues and operating information and their impact on future results. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward looking statements as a result of risk factors such as market conditions, product life cycles, customer delays in purchasing products, technology shifts, potential difficulties in introducing new products, competition, price sensitivity and the uncertainty of continuing market acceptance of the Company's products by distributors, retailers and consumers. |
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