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SBS Technologies, Inc. (ìSBSî) (NASDAQ: SBSE) today announced that it has entered into a modification to option agreements entered into on July 1, 1998 that accelerates SBSí purchase of the remaining interest in OR Industrial Computers GmbH (ìORî) and ORTEC Electronic Assembly GmbH (ìORTECî) from the originally planned date of February 28, 1999 to December 31, 1998.
On July 1, 1998, SBS acquired a 50.1% interest in OR (pronounced as letters O.R.). As part of this acquisition, SBS acquired 50.2% of the shares of ORTEC, a related company. SBS also acquired 100% of the shares of OR Computers, Inc., based in Fairfax, VA, which is the U.S. marketing and support organization for the OR product line. At the same time, SBS and the shareholders of both OR and ORTEC entered into exclusive option agreements under which SBS was granted the right to acquire the remaining shares of both companies on February 28, 1999. These are the option agreements that have been amended and exercised. The purchase price for the majority interest in the two companies based in Germany and 100% of OR Computers, Inc. was DM 17.5 million, approximately $9.7 million, paid in cash and SBS Common Stock at closing on July 1, 1998. The purchase price for the remaining interest in the OR companies is approximately DM 17.2 million, approximately $10 million.
ìOur new European operations are performing in line with our expectations,î said Christopher J. Amenson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SBS Technologies, Inc. ìWe believe that by moving forward the exercise of the option, we can accelerate our plans to develop stronger customer relationships and improved opportunities for marketing all of our products in Europe. We are pleased with the progress we have made thus far in integrating the former or business within the U.S with the SBS operations, and are optimistic that our European strategy will provide us with continued opportunities for growth,î added Amenson.
ìThe acceleration to complete the purchase of the OR companies is in the interests of all parties involved. SBS will disburse the cash payments for the option as originally scheduled at the end of February,î said James E. Dixon, Jr., Vice President, Finance & Administration.
Based in Augsburg, Germany, OR, renamed SBS OR Industrial Computers GmbH, designs, manufactures and markets CPU boards based on Intel computer architecture available in the VME, CompactPCI and PCCompact form factors, as well as VME CPU boards based on the Motorola 680X0 series processors and a series of computer input/output boards. Based in Mindelheim, Germany, ORTEC, renamed SBS ORTEC Electronic Assembly GmbH, manufactures ORís commercial products and electronic products for other customers.
SBS Technologies, Inc. is a leading designer and manufacturer of open-architecture, standard bus embedded computer components that system designers can easily use to create a custom solution specific to the userís unique application. SBS product lines include CPU boards, input/output (I/O) modules, avionics interface modules and analyzers, interconnection and expansion units, telemetry boards, data acquisition software and industrial computers. SBS embedded computer components are used in a variety of applications, such as telecommunications, medical imaging, industrial control, and flight instrumentation in commercial and aerospace markets. For news releases, product and other information, visit SBS on the World Wide Web at http://www.sbs.com.
Certain of the foregoing information are forward-looking statements regarding the future events or the future financial performance of SBS, and are subject to a number of risks and other factors which could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Among such factors are: general business and economic conditions; customer acceptance of and demand for SBSís new products; SBSís overall ability to design, test and introduce new products on a timely basis; the cyclical nature of the markets addressed by SBSís products; and the risk factors listed from time to time in documents filed by SBS with the Securities and Exchange Commission.