HumanWare Management Commits to Future of Assistive Technologies
Christchurch, New Zealand - HumanWare, the global leader in assistive technologies for vision, today announced that Jolimont Capital and senior managers have proposed a buyout of the company from existing shareholders. The proposal, which is subject to shareholder approval, would be funded by private equity from Jolimont Capital, debt financing from ANZ National Bank, and personal investments from HumanWare senior managers.
HumanWare makes a range of blindness, low vision, digital talking books, and GPS (Global Positioning System) products that improve the lives of blind, low vision, and learning disabled people. Following the death of its founder, Dr Russell Smith, in a light plane accident in 2005, the company has been led by CEO Dr Richard Mander. "Since Russell's loss, the company's strategic focus has been to grow the business by improving the design of our products, and increasing the quality, reliability, and levels of service to our customers", says Mander. "To maximise this strategy, we need to continue to have the shareholders that are firmly aligned with our plans and can commit the resources necessary to support these plans. The best way to continue to ensure this is to have a new, strong shareholder like Jolimont Capital to work with the management team to make this possible."
The selection of Jolimont was the result of a thorough review of available investment options. Mander described Jolimont as an ideal partner. "In seeking an equity partner we have looked for an investor who understands our long term plans and is aligned with our company vision. We've talked to a lot of candidates in New Zealand and overseas, but Jolimont was the investor who really took the time to get to know our team, our products, and our customers and was the best match with HumanWare".
Jolimont is equally pleased with the decision. Charles Gillies, Managing Partner, describes HumanWare as an example of the potential of New Zealand ICT (Information Communications Technology) companies. "Like all investors we look at the market, the product, and the team. HumanWare is global and its team has the capability to deliver on their plans - we are looking forward to working with them to achieve their vision".
Under the proposal, HumanWare shareholders would receive NZ$10.80 per share. The independent directors appointed Deloitte to prepare an independent experts report on the proposal. Deloitte concluded that the fair value range for 100% of HumanWare is NZ$9.81 to NZ$12.82 per share. The independent directors have therefore concluded that the proposal price is fair and have unanimously recommended the proposal to shareholders.
HumanWare will continue to be headquartered in Christchurch, New Zealand under the leadership of Dr Mander. The company's low vision and blindness products are designed and manufactured in the Christchurch Product Development Centre which also serves as the company headquarters. Digital Talking Book and GPS products are designed and manufactured in a Product Development Centre in Montreal Canada. The company has its own distribution and sales teams in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, USA, United Kingdom, Sweden, and The Netherlands, and dealers in more than thirty countries. Sales are over $NZ70m and 98% of all products are exported.
For further information please contact:
Dr Richard Mander
CEO
HumanWare Ltd
11 Mary Muller Drive
Christchurch
New Zealand
Ph: +64 3 940-2210
richard.mander@humanware.com
http://www.humanware.com/
Charles Gillies
Managing Partner
Jolimont Capital Pty Ltd
Level 1, 133 Flinders Lane
Melbourne Victoria 3000
Australia
Ph: +61 3 9038 8808
charlesg@jolimontcapital.con.au
About HumanWare
HumanWare is the global leader in assistive technologies for vision, including products for the blind and visually impaired. HumanWare's products include BrailleNote, the leading productivity device for blind people in education, in business and in their personal lives; the Victor Reader product line, the world's leading digital talking book players; and myReader2, the new version of HumanWare's unique "auto-reader" for people with low vision.
About Jolimont
Jolimont Capital is a Melbourne-based private equity firm with $110 million under management. Jolimont Capital is a secondary private equity manager which acquires existing equity investments from other private equity investors, private individuals and corporates. Its Managing Partners are Charles Gillies and Lex McArthur. Since its establishment in 2003 Jolimont Capital has built an impressive portfolio of high-growth companies, predominantly in the high tech industry. These have included early-stage companies in ICT, Biotech, Software, and Optics.
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