MALMO, Sweden, Feb. 4, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Teleca (Stockholm:TELCb) and Geoworks have entered into an agreement whereby 27 of Geoworks' U.K. staff will be allowed to transfer to Teleca from the February 1, 2003. Teleca will also acquire some assets and assume an office lease from Geoworks' U.K. subsidiary. Teleca has also reached agreements with customers to assume responsibility for Geoworks' projects. Teleca has agreed to pay Geoworks approximately USD 0.5 M.
On September 24, Teleca and Geoworks signed an agreement for Teleca to purchase Geoworks' U.K. subsidiary. The agreement was unanimously recommended by Geoworks' board of directors but required the approval of Geoworks' shareholders. Geoworks was unable to secure a quorum of shareholders to vote on the proposal, and therefore the transaction could not proceed, although of those who voted, a majority of approximately 8-1 were in favour.
The core competence of the Geoworks team is in the development of software for Smart Phones and the team will continue to support customers in this area.
"The addition of this new operation is inline with Teleca's strategy to develop U.K. operations and our mobile device business, and is expected to deliver good margins from day one," said Nick Stammers, CEO Teleca AB.
"I am delighted that we have been able to bring aboard the Geoworks U.K. staff," said Nick Wood, Senior Vice President for Teleca Mobile Devices. "We have always valued the skills and experience of this team, and we have also had them recommended highly by mutual customers. They will be a valuable asset as we continue to build our world class team of mobile device experts."
For further information, contact:
Nick Stammers, CEO Teleca AB mobile +44 7768 32 35 35 Nick Wood, Senior Vice President Teleca Mobile Devices mobile +44-7774 723 623
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 2,400 employees in 15 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.
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