MALMO, Sweden, Sept. 24, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Teleca (Stockholm:TELCb) today announced that it has reached an agreement with Geoworks Inc. (Nasdaq:GWRX) of the United States to purchase Geoworks U.K. operations based near Teleca's U.K. head office in Manchester. The deal, which is unanimously recommended by Geoworks board of Directors, is subject to approval by Geoworks shareholders.
Key customers include Nokia and Toshiba, and this acquisition will strengthen Teleca's position with these industry leaders.
"We are pleased to include Geoworks U.K. impressive reputation, track record and customer base within the Teleca group," said Nick Wood, Teleca's U.K. Managing Director. "We see a major opportunity in helping manufacturers build the next generation of intelligent terminals and this is part of our strategy to position ourselves as the world's leading consulting company in this space. We are building the partnerships, competencies and customers to support this, such as our Symbian Competence Centre partnership and our Texas Instruments OMAP technology centre accreditation, and this deal is an important step. Despite the well publicised technology downturn, there is still a strong demand for real expertise of the kind Teleca can offer."
"The acquisition is part of Teleca's strategy to focus growth in major European markets," said Nick Stammers, CEO of Teleca. "The Geoworks operation will be important because, among other things, it has excellent skills within the fast-growing Symbian OS market and it further increases Teleca's strength in the U.K. market."
The acquisition is estimated to result in goodwill in Teleca of approximately $1.8.M and Teleca expect an immediate positive effect on Earnings per Share. Geoworks and Teleca hope to conclude the transaction this year.
For more information contact:
Nick Wood, CEO, Teleca Ltd., +44 7774 723 623 Nick Stammers, CEO, Teleca AB, +44 7768 323 535
Teleca is a European consulting group focused on new technology and R&D. Our business concept is to strengthen our customer's market position and time-to-market. This is achieved by providing professional teams with specialist technical expertise, working in partnership with development-intensive companies world-wide. The group has more than 2,200 employees in 13 countries with a strong presence in the Nordic region, U.K., and France. Teleca is quoted on the Attract40 list of Stockholmsborsen. www.teleca.com.
Geoworks Corporation is a provider of leading-edge software design and engineering services to the mobile and handheld device industry. With nearly two decades of experience developing wireless operating systems, related applications and wireless server technology, Geoworks has worked with industry leaders in mobile phones and mobile data applications including Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and Nokia. Based in Emeryville, California, the company also has a European development center in the United Kingdom. Additional information can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.geoworks.com.
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