Extension of Partnership
13 October 2003 - 10:00PM
UK Regulatory
RNS Number:8202Q
Imagination Technologies Group PLC
13 October 2003
Imagination Technologies plc
IMAGINATION TECHNOLOGIES AND FRONTIER SILICON
EXTEND STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP
Frontier Silicon announces significant investment from Apax Partners' Funds and
Alta Berkeley.
London, 13th October, 2003: Imagination Technologies, a leader in system-on-chip
intellectual property (SoC IP), announces that it has signed a new licensing and
development agreement with Frontier Silicon, a fabless semiconductor business.
This will give Frontier Silicon access to a wide range of hardware and software
technologies, for digital radio, digital television and multimedia products,
from Imagination's PowerVR, Ensigma and Metagence divisions. The companies will
also be working together to develop the next generation of DAB digital radio /
audio and multimedia processor.
Under the terms of this new significant multi-use license agreement Imagination
Technologies is receiving license and development income, starting during the
second half of FY2003. Imagination Technologies receives royalty revenues when
Frontier Silicon ships integrated circuits (ICs) incorporating Imagination's IP.
Frontier Silicon, which has rapidly grown to become the market leader in DAB ICs
and modules, is now Imagination Technologies' strategic partner in the DAB
digital radio market. Frontier Silicon's Chorus chip accounts for 80% of DAB
sales worldwide and its customers include leading brands such as Bush, Goodmans,
Grundig, Ministry of Sound, PURE Digital and TEAC. Frontier Silicon has shipped
over 300,000 Chorus DAB IC's and modules to date.
In a further significant development today Frontier Silicon announced that Apax
Partners and Alta Berkeley, two of the world's leading technology private equity
investment groups, have provided significant investment to reinforce Frontier
Silicon's leadership position in DAB and build the resources needed to
accelerate its continued growth and entry into new markets. Frontier Silicon's
Board will be strengthened with the appointment of three senior Non-Executive
Directors, Pete Magowan (Partner, Alta Berkeley and formerly VP of Sales and
Marketing of ARM Holdings), Jonathan Brooks (formerly CFO of ARM Holdings) and
Michael Risman (Director of Apax Partners and Non-Executive Director of Dialog
Semiconductor).
Imagination Technologies will receive licence and development fee payments as
well as loan stock in Frontier Silicon up to a value of #1.25m. Imagination
Technologies holds a 17% equity stake in Frontier Silicon.
Says Hossein Yassaie, CEO, Imagination Technologies: "We are delighted that
Frontier Silicon is entering its second phase of growth with additional
investment and significantly enhanced resources. This increased resource and the
new major agreement with Imagination Technologies provide it with the armoury it
requires to continue its outstanding success. We have made Frontier our
strategic partner for the DAB market where its rapid growth to the number one
position has seen it outstripping many longer established rivals."
Says Anthony Sethill, CEO, Frontier Silicon: "Partnership with Imagination has
enabled Frontier Silicon to grow very rapidly and as part of a strategic
partnership we have now secured our access to future generations of
Imagination's market leading technology. We have also put in place a joint
development programme for next generation digital radio/audio IC's between the
two companies."
Editor's Notes:
Imagination Technologies' IP already enables Frontier Silicon's Chorus (DAB) and
Logie (DVB-T) processors. Imagination is also developing a DVB-S processor for
Frontier Silicon.
About Imagination Technologies
Imagination Technologies Group plc - a leader in SoC IP - develops, licenses and
supplies market-leading graphics/video cores, real-time multi-threaded DSP/RISC
processors and communication and broadcast technologies for the consumer
entertainment and PC markets. It supplies both licensable IP (Intellectual
Property) and related advanced development tools to leading semiconductor and
consumer electronics companies worldwide. Imagination Technologies Group plc has
its corporate headquarters in the United Kingdom and is publicly traded on the
London Stock Exchange (FTSE:IMG). See: www.imgtec.com.
13 October 2003
ENQUIRIES:
Imagination Technologies Group plc Tel: 01923 260511
Hossein Yassaie, CEO
Trevor Selby, CFO
College Hill Tel: 020 7457 2020
Kate Pope
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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