ATLANTA and TAKOMA PARK, Md., July 30, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- EMS Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:ELMG) announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Sky Connect LLC. of Takoma Park, Md., for approximately $15.5 million, subject to customary closing conditions. Additional purchase price payments may be earned based on near-term performance of the Sky Connect business. The acquisition is intended to enable EMS to build an Iridium services-based business, complementing the Company's industry-leading offerings serving the commercial and military aviation markets. The Company expects the acquisition to be accretive in 2008, but not to materially affect EMS's financial performance for 2008.
Sky Connect, founded in 2003, leads the industry in Iridium-based combined tracking and voice systems for general aviation, with certified systems flying on over 2,000 aircraft. Sky Connect doubled its sales from 2005 to 2007, and is forecast to grow by more than 25 percent in 2008. Its business currently focuses on the helicopter market supporting offshore oil and gas exploration and production, where it is the lead supplier in the Gulf of Mexico. Other market segments Sky Connect serves include forest-fire fighting, emergency medical transport, law enforcement as well as commercial airlines.
"Acquiring Sky Connect complements EMS's aero-connectivity strategy by adding Iridium hardware and services business targeting the growing general aviation market. In addition, Sky Connect's efforts with Qantas, Air New Zealand and El Al parallel our similar expansion into the air transport market. We also anticipate synergies with our emerging Blue-Force-Tracking programs," says EMS Technologies' President and CEO Paul Domorski.
Sky Connect offers an integrated solution, including hardware, accessories, air time services and web-based mapping, which addresses the growing need for location awareness and operational efficiencies. TMF Associates forecasts the compound growth rate for aeronautical low-speed data through 2011 at 10 percent annually.
Sky Connect's two co-founders, CEO Steve Silverman and COO Wiley Loughran, will lead EMS's Iridium-based business after the acquisition is closed.
According to Silverman, "Joining a larger corporation allows us to rapidly grow this business beyond our current capabilities. Sky Connect products and services offered under the EMS brand will provide us a much higher profile and will expand our reach into new, emerging markets, including the military and the small- to medium-sized business jet markets."
Sky Connect's innovative and flexible offering provides 100 percent global coverage on the Iridium satellite network and continues to lead the industry in the development of integrated Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and voice applications. Iridium is increasingly the platform of choice for tracking of aviation, marine and land-mobile assets on the move, with over 50,000 M2M Data units deployed EMS plans to retain Sky Connect's staff and current Sky Connect operations in Takoma Park, Md., where it is headquartered, and the company's support and FAA repair station in New Orleans.
About Sky Connect LLC.
Sky Connect offers a range of satellite-based tracking, text messaging, and telephone systems for airborne, ground-based, and marine applications in both the commercial and government markets. Sky Connect provides automated flight tracking with true worldwide coverage. Aircraft phone systems support headset interfaces plus corded or cordless handsets. Sky Connect uses the Iridium satellite network for complete Earth coverage and mission effectiveness.
About EMS Technologies, Inc.
EMS Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:ELMG) is a wireless and satellite communication solutions leader, serving aeronautical, defense, maritime, commercial space and supply chain markets. Through its LXE, EMS SATCOM, and Defense & Space Systems divisions, EMS keeps people, systems and data connected, wherever they are -- on the ground, in the warehouse, in the air, or in space. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, employs approximately 1,000 people worldwide and operates major manufacturing facilities in Atlanta and Ottawa, Canada.
For more information, visit EMS on the World Wide Web at www.ems-t.com.
To learn more about Sky Connect, visit: http://www.skyconnect.aero/.
Statements contained in this press release regarding the Company's expectations for its financial results for 2008, and concerning the potential for its SATCOM business and products, are forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ from those statements as a result of a wide variety of factors. Such factors include, but are not limited to:
* economic conditions in the U.S. and abroad and their effect on
capital spending in the Company's principal markets;
* customer response to new products and services, and general
conditions in our target markets;
* the ability to effectively integrate an acquired business and
its technologies into our existing businesses and products, and
* the risks that an acquisition could be dilutive to earnings or
that the acquired business and technologies do not perform as
expected.
Further information concerning relevant factors and risks are identified under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 2007.