Avocent Completes Soronti Acquisition
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (November 19, 2003) - Avocent Corporation (NASDAQ:AVCT) today announced that it completed the acquisition of Soronti, Inc. Soronti is a developer of virtual presence PC devices for server management and has seven patents pending covering its technology.
In connection with the acquisition, twelve employees of Soronti who became non-executive officer employees of Avocent following the acquisition were awarded a total of 142,000 employment inducement stock option grants by Avocent. These grants have an exercise price of $37.28, yesterday's closing price, and will vest over a period of four years under terms that are substantially similar to the 2003 Avocent Corporation Stock Option Plan that was approved by Avocent's shareholders earlier this year.
“The acquisition of Soronti accelerates our development of embedded technologies for servers,” stated John R. Cooper, president and chief executive officer of Avocent Corporation. “We believe the Soronti technology will broaden our market for server management while expanding our platform initiatives into IPMI (intelligent platform management interface).”
About Avocent Corporation
Avocent Corporation is the leading supplier of connectivity solutions for enterprise data centers, service providers, and financial institutions worldwide. Branded products include switching, extension, remote access, and video display solutions. Additional information is available at: www.avocent.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements that are forward-looking statements as defined within the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include statements regarding the development and introduction of new products and technologies, the size and growth of the potential markets for these products and technologies in the future, engineering and design activities, and manufacturing efficiencies in the future. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made, including the risks associated with general economic conditions, risks attributable to future product demand, sales, and expenses, risks associated with reliance on a limited number of customers, component suppliers, and single source components, risks associated with product design efforts and the introduction of new products and technologies, and risks associated with obtaining and protecting intellectual property rights. Other factors that could cause operating and financial results to differ are described in Avocent’s annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 27, 2003. Other risks may be detailed from time to time in reports to be filed with the SEC. Avocent does not undertake any obligation to publicly update its forward-looking statements based on events or circumstances after the date hereof.
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