Acquisition Accelerates Phone.com's GSM Footprint and Product Development
Capabilities for Key Markets
GENEVA, Oct. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- At Telecom'99 Phone.com, Inc.
(Nasdaq: PHCM) announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to
acquire the WAP products and related operations of APiON Ltd, a Belfast,
Northern Ireland based telecommunications software company. This acquisition
will greatly enhance Phone.com's ability to rapidly penetrate and service the
GSM market consisting of over 300 network operators worldwide.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990706/PHCMLOGO )
APiON is a leading European WAP software supplier with commercial
relationships for delivery of WAP software to 10 GSM wireless network
operators including Swisscom and Sonera. APiON has particular expertise in GSM
Intelligent Networks, wireless data and WAP technology. The acquisition
further increases Phone.com's strong technical and sales presence in North
America, Europe and Asia.
In connection with the acquisition, APiON shareholders will receive
1.3 million shares of Phone.com valued at approximately US$239 million as of
October 8, 1999. The stock-for-stock transaction will be accounted for using
purchase accounting. Closing is anticipated to occur prior to the end of
October 1999. APiON's non-WAP related services business is excluded from the
acquisition.
APiON's Irish facilities will form the basis of Phone.com's first product
development centre outside of Silicon Valley and will also act as the support
centre for carrier deployments in Europe. The combined resources of Phone.com
and APiON will enable the company to provide customers with greater technical
expertise and support.
"APiON adds leading European network operators to Phone.com's extensive
list of GSM customers that includes Mannesmann Mobilfunk, Omnitel,
Cegetel/SFR, Telstra, Sunday and 17 others," said Alain Rossmann, Chairman and
CEO of Phone.com. "The addition of over 110 experienced people, including
APiON's management team, to our European organization underscores Phone.com's
commitment to the global GSM market and consolidates our position as a leading
supplier of WAP software."
"APiON quickly saw the potential of WAP and was pleased to be an early
member of the WAP forum. With our telecom knowledge we were able to quickly
develop the core components of WAP and bring them to market with operators
such as Sonera and Swisscom," said APiON managing director Denis Murphy. "We
have admired Phone.com's skills in co-founding the WAP Forum, in building
successful customer relationships and in raising the profile of this important
technology."
"We believe that consolidating the two companies will allow us to achieve
immediate growth and offer better service and support to our customers," said
Malcom Bird, managing director of Phone.com (Europe). "The combined companies
have contractual relationships with 43 wireless network operators for either
trials or commercial deployment, 31 of which are GSM operators. We believe
that Phone.com is now well positioned as a first choice source for
vendor-neutral, interoperable WAP software infrastructure."
About Phone.com
Phone.com, Inc. is a leading provider of software that enables the
delivery of Internet-based services to mass-market wireless telephones. Using
its software, wireless subscribers have access to Internet- and corporate
intranet-based services, including Email, news, stocks, weather, travel and
sports. In addition, subscribers have access via their wireless telephones to
network operators' intranet-based telephony services, which may include
over-the-air activation, call management, billing history information, pricing
plan subscription and voice message management. Phone.com is headquartered in
Silicon Valley, California and has regional offices in London and Tokyo. Visit
http://www.phone.com for more information.
About APiON
APiON is a leading provider of infrastructure into the wireless Internet.
APiON products and services allow customers, using any wireless technology, to
access a wide range of Internet and advanced telephony services. APiON's
underlying technologies converge IP, intelligent networking and wireless data,
and position carriers for the explosion of data based value added services
expected in third generation wireless systems. APiON is headquartered in
Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters
discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements involving risks
and uncertainties 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, Phone.com's limited operating history,
potential fluctuations in Phone.com's operating results, uncertainties related
to Phone.com's long sales cycle and reliance on a small number of customers,
Phone.com's dependence on the acceptance of its products by network operators
and wireless subscribers, Phone.com's ability to adequately address the
rapidly-evolving market for delivery of Internet-based services through
wireless telephones, the need to achieve widespread integration of Phone.com's
browser in wireless telephones, competition from companies with substantially
greater financial, technical, marketing and distribution resources and the
ability of Phone.com to manage a complex set of engineering, marketing and
distribution relationships. Further information regarding these and other
risks is included in Phone.com's form 10K September 24, 1999 and in its other
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
NOTE: Phone.com and the Phone.com logo are trademarks of Phone.com, Inc.
For more information please contact:
investor, Bonnie McBride, Managing Director of The Carson Group,
415-989-0399; or general press and media, Vicky Ryce (in GENEVA) of Text 100
Ltd., mobile, 44-0-797-416-1182, or vickyr@text100.co.uk, for Phone.com
(Europe) Limited; or general press and media, Rowan Benecke of PR21,
415-439-8811, or rowan_benecke@pr21.com, for Phone.com, Inc.
SOURCE Phone.com, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.phone.com
Photo Notes:
NewsCom:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990706/PHCMLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, 888-776-6555 or 201-369-3467
CONTACT:
investor, Bonnie McBride, Managing Director
of The Carson Group, 415-989-0399; or general press and media,
Vicky Ryce (in GENEVA) of Text 100 Ltd., mobile,
44-0-797-416-1182, or vickyr@text100.co.uk, for Phone.com
(Europe) Limited; or general press and media, Rowan Benecke of
PR21, 415-439-8811, or rowan_benecke@pr21.com, for Phone.com,
Inc.
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