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$74.5 million acquisition of ADC Telecommunications’
‘Singl.eView’ billing software division
4 June 2004 - Intec Telecom Systems PLC is pleased to
announce that it has conditionally agreed with ADC
Telecommunications, Inc. ("ADC") to acquire its 'Singl.eView'
retail billing software division for $74.5 million (the
“Acquisition”).
Consideration of $74.5 million (subject to potential adjustment)
to be satisfied as to $71 million by vendor placing of Intec
shares and as to $3.5 million from cash resources
The Acquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing in the
first full year of ownership (to 30 September 2005) and to
substantially increase revenues
The Acquisition is to be part-financed by a vendor placing of
approximately 60.4 million Intec shares to existing shareholder
General Atlantic Partners (“GA”), increasing its holding to
approximately 25.6%
The Acquisition is subject to Intec shareholders’ approval at an
EGM. Shareholders should expect to receive a circular relating
to the Acquisition in July 2004
Rationale for the acquisition:
- Allows Intec to enter the largest sector in the Operations
Support Systems ("OSS") market - retail or customer
transaction billing
- The retail billing market is approximately the same size
as all other sectors of the OSS industry put together
- Contracts for retail billing are typically 5-10 times
larger than for Intec’s current main markets of mediation and
interconnect
-
Singl.eView product
line is widely reported to be one of the top retail billing
solutions available
-
Singl.eView has over
70 Tier 1 and Tier 2 carrier clients in 17 countries,
including Deutsche Telekom, Virgin Mobile, Hutchison 3G,
Optus, and Reliance.
Commenting on the Acquisition, Intec Executive Chairman, Mike
Frayne, said: "This acquisition will place us in the top tier of
global OSS vendors, with the scale, customer base and product
set to compete on equal terms for the largest billing and OSS
contracts in the market. Intec currently has strong contract
momentum in its core OSS business, and the acquisition of one of
the industry’s most recognised retail billing companies will
increase our presence in the largest, most influential telecoms
software market."
Intec CEO, Kevin Adams, added: "As a consequence of this
transaction, Intec will be a leading OSS products company with
over 450 customers and 600 installations, and a broad,
technically advanced OSS product offering.
Singl.eView is an
award-winning product that fits logically into our current OSS
architecture and allows us to substantially broaden our offering
to customers worldwide."
Background to and reason for the Acquisition
Intec has a published, long-term strategy to increase
performance and shareholder value through both organic growth
and carefully managed acquisitions, and to execute a company
transforming acquisition. Since its IPO in 2000, Intec has
completed eight acquisitions which have both consolidated and
extended Intec’s product line or market presence. Intec has
developed a strong product offering in its first sector of
operations, interconnect billing, with over 200 customers
worldwide. Following the acquisition of convergent mediation
provider, Computer Generation Inc. of Atlanta, in late 2000,
Intec has also grown its mediation software business and this
now has over 150 customers. Intec’s acquisition of Digiquant A/S
of Denmark in late 2003 has now taken Intec into the technically
advanced market space of IP billing and dynamic charging. These
three OSS areas are complementary and Intec has sold two or more
of these products to many customers.
The Board of Intec, having grown revenues to over £50 million in
the year ended 30 September 2003, believes that the Company is
well positioned to move the business strongly forward in
recovering markets through acquisitions and organic growth. With
leading products in billing mediation and inter-carrier billing,
a logical next step for Intec is to enter the retail billing
space. This is fully complementary to Intec’s existing products
and is a critical business requirement that is frequently
purchased by Communication Service Provider (“CSP”) customers at
the same time as mediation or interconnect. Contracts for retail
billing systems are typically 5-10 times larger than contracts
for mediation or interconnect, and have substantial
opportunities for value-added services. The
Singl.eView product line
from ADC is widely reported to be one of the top retail billing
solutions available today and is considered by Intec to be an
exceptionally good fit with its other business lines, global
operations and existing customer base.
The Board has considered a number of other options for entering
the retail billing market, including developing its own product
internally over a period of time or acquiring a relatively
unknown solution and building its capabilities and presence
organically. Neither of these options is considered to be ideal
in comparison to rapidly acquiring a market-proven solution with
a strong market presence, existing customer base and revenue
stream.
The Board of Intec believes that the Acquisition is an important
opportunity for the Company to deliver on its stated long-term
strategy of good-value acquisitions of complementary OSS product
businesses. Specifically the Board believes that the Acquisition
will provide Intec with:
- A technically strong, market-proven retail/transactional
billing system which has been the subject of a sustained, high
level of investment in recent periods and is able to address
all present and foreseeable market requirements in its current
form;
- Additional capabilities, presence and scale to address the
most demanding Tier 1 carrier requirements for OSS technology;
- Immediate high-level entrance to the important OSS market
of retail billing/transaction management;
- Ownership of an award-winning product suite built with
modern technologies, which is proven to be interoperable in
customer sites with existing Intec offerings;
- Substantially increased revenues for the enlarged group:
based on unaudited financial statements for the two most
recently reported quarters, annualised revenues for the
combined group would increase by over 50% on a pro forma
basis;
- Over 70 Tier 1 and Tier 2 carrier clients in 17 countries;
- The opportunity to cross-sell both
Singl.eView and Intec
OSS products to current customers of both companies. More than
ten high-profile clients currently operate both
Singl.eView and Intec
products together;
- An experienced and proven management and professional
staff team of over 640 people with excellent skills in
developing, selling and implementing complex, high-value
retail billing systems worldwide;
A greatly enlarged professional services team giving Intec a
much increased ability to implement large OSS projects on a
global basis.
Singl.eView currently has over 400 professional services staff
compared to around 250 in Intec;
Productive relationships with several key integrators in the
telecoms business, including Accenture, IBM and EDS; and Offices
in a combined total of 27 locations which will increase Intec’s
distribution and delivery capabilities to some important
markets, including North America and Australia.
Transaction structure
Intec Telecom Systems PLC has conditionally agreed with ADC to
acquire its 'Singl.eView
' billing software division for $74.5 million (subject to
a potential adjustment based on the working capital and deferred
revenue position at completion). The Acquisition is conditional
upon the approval of Intec’s shareholders, the completion of the
audit of
SingleView’s accounts for the
three years ended 31 October 2003, customary anti-trust
clearances under applicable regulations, and the admission of
vendor placing shares in Intec (the "Vendor Placing Shares") to
the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and to trading on
the London Stock Exchange's market for listed securities
(“Admission”).
To facilitate the acquisition, Intec has today entered into a
vendor placing agreement with GA pursuant to which it has
conditionally agreed to place approximately 60.4 million new
Intec shares with GA and its affiliates (the “GA Entities”) in
consideration for GA agreeing to procure the payment of $71
million in cash to ADC. Notwithstanding the dilutive effect of
the vendor placing, the full Board of Intec, after very careful
consideration of this and other options, considers this method
of financing to be in the best interest of shareholders. GA is a
leading global direct investment firm and, through certain GA
Entities, an existing investor in Intec. The number of new Intec
shares placed with GA has been determined by reference to the
average closing price of Intec shares over the five business
days ending on 3 June 2004. The $3.5 million balance of the
purchase price will be met from Intec's existing cash resources.
The acquisition was run by ADC as an auction process. Intec was
one of a number of interested bidders. It was clear that in
order to compete effectively in the auction process, Intec's
offer for
Singl.eView needed to be made in cash. Furthermore, due to ADC's
requirement that the transaction, could not be conditional on
financing, it was not possible for Intec to raise capital
through the public markets. Intec therefore approached GA to
assist with the bid for
Singl.eView .
Unlike a traditional underwriting agreement, the vendor placing
agreement is conditional only upon the completion of the
Acquisition and Admission and, therefore, ADC is not directly
exposed to external market risk in relation to the transaction.
In addition, since the number of new Intec shares placed with GA
has been fixed, Intec is not exposed to fluctuations in its
share price between now and completion of the Acquisition.
Therefore there is also no risk of further dilution for Intec's
shareholders.
The aggregate shareholding of GA Entities in Intec following
completion of the vendor placing will be approximately 25.6% of
the enlarged issued share capital. In recognition of the size of
its holding in Intec, with effect from completion GA has been
granted the right to appoint a non-executive director to the
board of Intec.
The Company will issue a shareholder circular and prospectus
(the “Prospectus”) containing further details of the Acquisition
in the summer of 2004. Due to its size in relation to Intec, the
Acquisition is conditional on the approval of Intec shareholders
which will be sought at an extraordinary general meeting this
summer (the “EGM”). Irrevocable undertakings to vote in favor
of the Acquisition at the EGM have been received from
shareholders holding over 40% of the existing issued ordinary
share capital of Intec.
René Kern, a General Partner at GA and prospective director of
Intec said, "We are delighted to increase our ownership in Intec
significantly. Intec has established a strong track record of
growth in a challenging market environment. As the
telecommunications industry rebounds, Intec is well-positioned
in providing mission critical software applications to the
telecommunications sector. We have confidence in management's
ability to integrate the
Singl.eView business rapidly and look forward to supporting
management in their continued plans for growth."
Financial effects of the Acquisition
There are a number of areas where synergies and improvements, in
terms of both enhanced business performance and reduced costs,
could be achieved under Intec’s ownership. In the area of
improved business performance, the opportunity for the enlarged
business to sell a wider product set to both existing and
prospective customers is evident, as well as the ability to use
the strong distribution channel partnerships that each business
has created. In addition, the major sales and support locations
of the two companies, for example Intec in Europe, Central and
Latin America, and Singl.eView
in Canada, are generally not duplicated, allowing the
possibility of a stronger sales presence in markets where the
existing businesses are not historically well represented.
Potential cost savings are expected to result from integration
of some functions, the removal of duplication in some budget
items, for example office space, IT facilities or trade shows,
and the more efficient allocation and thus utilisation of
resources around the enlarged business.
Whilst the Singl.eView
division, in common with many OSS companies, has
experienced some decline in revenues in the past two years as a
result of the challenging market conditions in the
telecommunications sector, these reductions have been modest in
comparison to many businesses. The Intec directors also believe
that the sale process and consequent uncertainty around the
ownership of the business has contributed to the pressure on
Singl.eView’s revenues in recent periods. A full
audit of the Singl.eView
division of ADC is now underway and is expected to be
completed early in the summer. Details of the audited accounts
will be provided in the Prospectus to be circulated to
shareholders. The Directors of Intec believe that Intec, as a
highly focused vendor within the OSS space, will be able to
provide the leadership, stability and management attention that
the
Singl.eView business
requires.
Considering these factors, the Intec directors expect the
Acquisition to be earnings enhancing in the first full financial
year of ownership (to 30 September 2005). This statement should
not be interpreted to mean that Intec’s earnings per share in
the first full financial year following the Acquisition, or in
any subsequent period, would necessarily match or be greater
than those for the relevant preceding financial period.
Completion of the Acquisition is anticipated to be in the late
summer of 2004 and therefore Singl.eView is not expected to make
a substantial contribution to Intec’s results for the year
ending 30 September 2004.
The retail billing market
According to industry analysts Frost & Sullivan, the market for
retail billing systems is estimated to be worth approximately
$6.5 billion, with a compound annual growth rate (“CAGR”) of
5.1% in the period 2002-2008. This market size includes both
software-related revenues and bill processing/service
outsourcing revenues. The market for software alone is reported
to be approximately $1.6 billion (Source: Frost & Sullivan -
World Communications Billing Software Market, May 2003), with an
estimated CAGR of 9.7% 2002-2008. The retail billing market grew
rapidly in the pre-2000 period but has shown a marked decline
since then with the well known difficulties experienced by many
CSPs. In 2004, the directors of Intec believe that the market
has stabilized at a lower level and is likely to return to
growth in coming quarters.
Intec has shown sequential year-on-year growth since it was
founded in 1997, despite the overall decline in OSS spending in
the period 2001-2004. Whilst Singl.eView
has shown a reduction in revenues from 2002 to 2003, this
is partly due to the overall industry decline, but in recent
periods is most likely due to the uncertainty surrounding the
disposal of the business and the lack of focus on billing
systems within the much larger ADC corporate organisation during
a very challenging period for the OSS and hardware markets. The
Board of Intec believes that Singl.eView’s financial
performance can quickly be stabilized under Intec’s ownership
and that the market synergies and Intec focus can deliver
improved performance in future periods.
Further Terms of the Acquisition relating to completion,
consideration adjustment, share disposals and GA involvement
Completion of the Acquisition is conditional, amongst other
things, upon receipt of an audit report reasonably acceptable to
Intec covering Singl.eView
for the three years ended 31 October 2003, upon customary
clearances under applicable US, German and Canadian anti-trust
regulations, and the admission of the Vendor Placing Shares to
the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and to trading on
the London Stock Exchange's market for listed securities
(“Admission”). It is also a condition to the Acquisition that
ADC provide Intec with an 18 month credit facility of up to $6
million at the prime lending rate and that, for a six month
period following completion, ADC provides various centralised
services and assistance on a transitional basis. The Acquisition
purchase price is subject to a cash adjustment mechanism to the
extent that the working capital of
Singl.eView at
completion of the acquisition differs from an agreed target. The
Acquisition agreement contains customary representations,
warranties and indemnities in favor of Intec.
The vendor placing agreement contains restrictions on the
ability of the GA Entities to dispose of the Vendor Placing
Shares following completion of the Acquisition. For the first
year, no shares may be disposed of except in limited
circumstances relating principally to a reorganisation of
Intec's share capital or in acceptance of a general offer for
all of Intec's shares. For a further 12 months beyond the
initial period, the GA Entities are obliged to comply with
certain restrictions as to procedure and price of any disposals
in order to maintain an orderly market in Intec's shares.
GA has also entered into a relationship agreement with Intec to
ensure that the GA Entities do not take any action which
prejudices the general body of shareholders of Intec. The
agreement contains a standstill provision prohibiting the GA
Entities from making or soliciting an offer for Intec's shares
or increasing their stake in Intec above 30% without the consent
of the board of directors of Intec. It is also a term of the
relationship agreement that, whilst it holds more than 10% of
Intec, GA will have an ongoing right to nominate one
non-executive to be appointed to the board of Intec.
René Kern, a General Partner at GA, will therefore become an
Intec director upon completion of the Acquisition. Mr Kern or
any replacement director nominated by GA will retire and be
subject to re-election at the annual general meeting of Intec
(the “AGM”) following their initial appointment and, if the
relevant GA nominee is not elected, GA will be able to nominate
another person to be a director of Intec who the board of Intec
shall appoint until the next AGM. René M. Kern is a General
Partner at General Atlantic Partners, LLC, a global private
equity firm which manages approximately $6 billion in assets.
Mr. Kern is currently responsible for GA’s worldwide investment
activities in the telecommunications sector and is involved with
leading technology and IT services companies in the wireline and
wireless markets. Between 1996 and 2002, Mr. Kern headed GA’s
European offices, leading several new investments and building a
team of senior professionals and advisors. He is also a member
of General Atlantic’s Investment Portfolio Committee after
serving on GA’s Investment committee for several years.
Mr. Kern joined General Atlantic after six years with Morgan
Stanley in New York and London, where he was a Vice President in
the Investment Banking Division. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Mr.
Kern was a management consultant with Bain & Company in Boston,
MA. Mr. Kern is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania,
where he obtained an MBA from the Wharton School and an MA from
the School of Arts and Sciences, and is a fellow of the Lauder
Institute. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the
University of California, Berkeley.
Information About Singl.eView
Singl.eView resulted from ADC's acquisition of Saville Systems
in October 1999 and is currently one of two principal software
groups within ADC’s Software Systems division. Singl.eView
develops, sells and supports the Singl.eView line of transaction
management/retail billing products. ADC is NASDAQ listed with
its headquarters in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, USA and supplies
network equipment, software solutions, and integration services
for broadband, multi-service networks that deliver data, video,
and voice communications over telephone, cable television,
Internet, broadcast, wireless, and enterprise networks.
Singl.eView is a comprehensive revenue, transaction, billing and
service management solution, typically sitting at the core of
the OSS and business support systems (“BSS”) architecture of a
telecoms carrier. (It is also in use by a small number of
non-telecoms enterprise and government customers for billing
purposes). Singl.eView comprises a number of functional modules
which are used singly or in conjunction with each other to
provide transaction management, billing, customer care and other
functions required by almost all telecoms companies.
Singl.eView currently has over 70 active customers in 17
countries. The majority are larger (Tier 1 or large Tier 2)
communications service providers. The Singl.eView division has
recently won a number of awards for its products and customer
installations, including the prestigious ‘Best Overall
Contribution to Billing’, ‘Best Billing Implementation –
Telecoms’ and ‘Best Billing Implementation – Utilities’ at the
2004 Global Billing Awards in London. It was also the most
recognised retail billing brand in a recent industry awareness
survey. Major Singl.eView clients include Virgin Mobile,
Hutchison 3G, Optus, and Reliance.
The Acquisition agreement covers all of ADC’s intellectual
property rights pertaining to the product; customer licence,
service, and support contracts; bill processing facilities and
outsourced processing contracts for a small number of customers;
certain tangible fixed assets essential to the business; a
professional staff currently standing at over 600 people; and
leases on offices located in Brisbane, Australia; Edmonton,
Canada; Boston, USA; and Galway, Ireland.
Information About Intec Telecom Systems
Intec Telecom Systems is a leading OSS product vendor for fixed,
mobile and next-generation networks (i.e. WLAN, 3G and IP), with
more than 570 installations of its products worldwide in 400
customers. Founded in 1997, Intec was listed on the London Stock
Exchange in June 2000. Intec has a strong position in the
provision of inter-carrier billing systems and convergent
mediation software, and has recently acquired a capability in IP
billing and real-time mobile service charging and control. For
the year ended 30 September 2003, Intec reported revenues of
£50.7 million, with adjusted net earnings after tax of £4.1
million.
Intec’s product portfolio includes:
Inter-mediatE™ -
convergent telecom billing mediation
solution;
InterconnecT™ -
interconnect and billing including
US CABS and ITU-based settlement;
Inter-activatE™ - flow-through provisioning and
service activation;
Intec CPM™ - end-to-end content partner management; and
Intec DCP™ (Dynamic
Charging Platform) – a real-time pre/post-paid
charging interface between the network and the back office.
InterconnecT OR Least Cost Routing
- Optimal Least Cost Routing for effective interconnect cost
reduction
Intec’s customer base includes, among others, BellSouth,
BellSouth Peru, Brazil Telecom, Cable & Wireless, Cesky Telecom
(Czech Republic), China Unicom, COLT Telecommunications, EBT
(Taiwan), Eircom (Ireland), France Telecom, Hutchison 3G, Maxis
(Malaysia), Nitel (Nigeria), Reliance (India), Singtel Optus
(Australia), O2 Ireland, Orange, Telecom Argentina, Telecom
Egypt, Telecom Italia, Tiscali, TPSA (Poland), Swisscom,
T-Mobile International, Telefonica, Telia (Sweden), Telkom South
Africa, Telstra, US Cellular, Westel (Hungary), Vodafone,
VimpelCom (Russia), Vivo (Brasil) and Verizon.
On 12 May 2004 Intec reported its Interim (half year) results
for the six months to 31 March 2004. The report stated that: “A
combination of strong new licence sales across Intec’s main
product lines, increased revenues from both professional
services and recurring business, and generally improved trading
conditions in the telecoms sector have driven a 41% increase in
turnover and an increase in adjusted earnings per share of 130%.
Trading conditions continue to be healthy, and providing these
remain stable the Board is confident of satisfying full year
expectations. In addition the Company is engaged in several
major opportunities which, should they conclude and be
recognizable in the current year, will enhance Intec’s financial
performance for the full year.” Further details can be found in
the full Interim statement at
www.intec-telecom-systems.com
Information About General Atlantic Partners
General Atlantic Partners, LLC, is one of the world's leading
direct investment firms focused on investing globally in
companies providing or using IT in ways that significantly
transform the value proposition. GA's investment focus in IT
includes providers of IT, IT-related services and users of IT in
traditional industries such as healthcare, finance and
government. The firm was founded in 1980 and has almost $6
billion in capital under management. General Atlantic has
invested in over 130 IT companies and has current holdings in
over 50 companies, of which almost one-third are based outside
the United States. General Atlantic’s portfolio companies
include Archipelago, Digital China, Eclipsys, Exult, iSoft
Group, Liberata, Open Text Corporation, Patni Computer Systems,
ProxyMed, SESA, SRA International, Upromise, Xchanging and Zagat.
The firm is distinguished within the investment community by its
deep experience and expertise in information technology, its
global perspective and worldwide presence, its long-term
approach to investments, and its commitment to provide sustained
strategic assistance for its portfolio companies. General
Atlantic has nearly 70 professionals among its 130 employees
worldwide with offices in Greenwich, New York, Palo Alto,
Washington, D.C., London, Düsseldorf, Singapore, Tokyo, Mumbai,
Hong Kong, and São Paulo. See
www.gapartners.com for additional
information.
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