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Levallois-Perret, France - February 1, 2005 - BVRP Software (ISIN: FR0004026714),
a global developer and publisher of communications and productivity
software listed on the Euronext Nouveau Marché, today announced
the acquisition of V Communications, Inc. (VCOM), a San Jose-based
leading maker of Utilities software for the global PC market.
Under terms of the agreement, BVRP acquires full control of VCOM,
including the California software company’s assets, its valuable
development expertise and best-selling line of PC Utilities products
that includes the award-winning SystemSuite™, Fix-It Utilities™,
Partition Commander™, Web Easy™ and PowerDesk®. BVRP
will pay $8.5 million in cash and shares with an additional payment
of up to $5 million in cash and shares contingent on certain targets
being met in 2005-06.
BVRP’s acquisition of VCOM will dramatically expand BVRP’s
product offering in the PC Utilities market and integrates VCOM’s
San Jose- and Denver-based R&D teams to bolster BVRP’s
software development capabilities. The acquisition reinforces BVRP’s
presence in the U.S., where it began operations in 1996 that last
year accounted for 44% of BVRP’s total revenue.
BVRP also announced concurrent with the acquisition that VCOM will
become part of a BVRP corporate reorganization designed to increase
market share in the company’s core product categories. BVRP
will create three new divisions focusing on the Mobility, Productivity
and Utility software product lines to further strengthen BVRP’s
intellectual property and positively contribute to the company profitability.
The software will be marketed worldwide in all channels by BVRP’s
Avanquest Software Publishing division, which currently publishes
best-selling software in all product categories from both BVRP and
third-party developers.
“VCOM’s broad, innovative product portfolio has
made them the leader in the PC utility category,” said
Bruno Vanryb, BVRP’s founder, chairman and CEO. “Their
outstanding line-up of best-selling software titles is a significant
addition to our intellectual property portfolio.”
“With strong brands and a well-established presence
in each of the Utilities, Productivity and Mobility product categories,
BVRP Software as developer and Avanquest as a global publisher are
now perfectly positioned to meet and exceed our goal of reaching
a 20% market share in all three categories.”
BVRP posted annual sales of $74 million (€ 57M) for 2004 and
expects 2004 operating profits to exceed 11%. Taking in account
VCOM’s profitability and lack of any debt burden, the acquisition
will immediately have a positive impact on BVRP’s profitability,
increase BVRP’s profit margin, adding an estimated €0.13
to €0.17 to the earnings per share in 2005.
VCOM sales have gone from $5.5 million in 2002 to approximately
$8.3 million in 2004, with strong operating profit surpassing 15%
in 2004. BVRP group expects an additional $9-10 million in revenues
for 2005 as a result of the acquisition.
As part of the reorganization, VCOM founder and President Frank
van Gilluwe has been appointed president of the Utility Software
Division. He will join BVRP’s Executive Committee and report
to CEO Bruno Vanryb. As division president, Mr. van Gilluwe will
have responsibility for global market research, product development
and marketing investment for the Utility Software category.
“BVRP has expanded rapidly over the past several years
and we’ve been impressed by their capability not only to develop
innovative software in the Mobility and Productivity space, but
also to strengthen their presence in all territories and all channels
through the Avanquest organization,” said Mr. Gilluwe. “VCOM
is very excited to be joining BVRP to extend its development capabilities
and global leadership in the creation, sourcing and publishing of
high quality software worldwide.”
VCOM’s operations will be located in the San Francisco Bay
area global headquarters of Avanquest Software Publishing, managed
by Christina Seelye, president, Avanquest Software Publishing USA.
VCOM’s 24 current Silicon Valley employees will continue to
be employed at the Avanquest facility.
About VCOM:
VCOM began providing solutions for PC users in 1986 and has built
a solid reputation by providing affordable, high-quality products
for both IS professionals in an Enterprise environment and end users
who want the most from their PCs. Today VCOM is recognized as the
leader in PC utilities with ground breaking products to manage,
protect, and maintain today's PCs. VCOM has some of the best known
PC Utilities, including the award winning SystemSuite™, Fix-It
Utilities™, and PowerDesk®. Web Easy™ and Web Easy
Professional are recognized as the most powerful, easy-to-use web
design tool available. When it comes to running multiple OSes, partitioning
hard drives, performing automatic data backups and keeping your
hard drive running smoothly, let VCOM make the process safe, simple
and fast with their OS Wizard™, Partition Wizard™ and
BackStep Wizard™. VCOM alleviates the anxiety commonly associated
with complex software operations. All VCOM's software is designed
from the start for PC novices, yet are powerful enough for PC experts.
VCOM - producing truly impressive software! Additional information
on VCOM is available at www.v-com.com and www.bvrp.com
About BVRP Software:
Based in France, with subsidiaries in Germany, Great Britain, Spain
and the United States, the BVRP Software Group is a worldwide leading
publisher of communications and mobility software and a major provider
of personal and professional software designed for utilities, office
productivity and multimedia. Founded in 1984, BVRP Software celebrates
20 years of innovation in 2004. BVRP products are marketed in over
100 countries, through e-commerce, OEM partnerships and IT resellers.
In June 2003, BVRP Group formed Avanquest Global Software Publishing,
a coalition of software publishers offering worldwide publishing
resources to software developers everywhere. The group posted revenue
of €48.6M and a net income of €3.9M in 2003, and revenue
of €57.0M with operating profits above 11% (final 2004 annual
results published on March 21, 2005). Listed on Euronext (ISIN FR0004026714)
since December 1996, BVRP Software is part of the NextEconomy segment
and the SBF 250 index. Additional information on BVRP is available
at www.bvrp.com
ISIN: FR0004026714; Reuters: BVRP.LN; Bloomberg: BVRP NM
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