Future of Assistive Technologies

Tuesday 24 April 2007

HumanWare Management Commits to Future of Assistive Technologies

Christchurch, New Zealand - HumanWare, the global leader in assistive technologies for vision, today announced that Jolimont Capital and senior managers have proposed a buyout of the company from existing shareholders. The proposal, which is subject to shareholder approval, would be funded by private equity from Jolimont Capital, debt financing from ANZ National Bank, and personal investments from HumanWare senior managers.

HumanWare makes a range of blindness, low vision, digital talking books, and GPS (Global Positioning System) products that improve the lives of blind, low vision, and learning disabled people. Following the death of its founder, Dr Russell Smith, in a light plane accident in 2005, the company has been led by CEO Dr Richard Mander.

"Since Russell's loss, the company's strategic focus has been to grow the business by improving the design of our products, and increasing the quality, reliability, and levels of service to our customers", says Mander. "To maximise this strategy, we need to continue to have the shareholders that are firmly aligned with our plans and can commit the resources necessary to support these plans. The best way to continue to ensure this is to have a new, strong shareholder like Jolimont Capital to work with the management team to make this possible."

The selection of Jolimont was the result of a thorough review of available investment options. Mander described Jolimont as an ideal partner "In seeking an equity partner we have looked for an investor who understands our long term plans and is aligned with our company vision. We've talked to a lot of candidates in New Zealand and overseas, but Jolimont was the investor who really took the time to get to know our team, our products, and our customers and was the best match with HumanWare".

Jolimont is equally pleased with the decision. Charles Gillies, Managing Partner, describes HumanWare as an example of the potential of New Zealand ICT (Information Communications Technology) companies. "Like all investors we look at the market, the product, and the team. HumanWare is global and its team has the capability to deliver on their plans - we are looking forward to working with them to achieve their vision".

Under the proposal, HumanWare shareholders would receive NZ$10.80 per share. The independent directors appointed Deloitte to prepare an independent experts report on the proposal. Deloitte concluded that the fair value range for 100% of HumanWare is NZ$9.81 to NZ$12.82 per share. The independent directors have therefore concluded that the proposal price is fair and have unanimously recommended the proposal to shareholders.

HumanWare will continue to be headquartered in Christchurch, New Zealand under the leadership of Dr Mander. The company's low vision and blindness products are designed and manufactured in the Christchurch Product Development Centre which also serves as the company headquarters. Digital Talking Book and GPS products are designed and manufactured in a Product Development Centre in Montreal Canada. The company has its own distribution and sales teams in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, USA, United Kingdom, Sweden, and The Netherlands, and dealers in more than thirty countries. Sales are over $NZ70m and 98% of all products are exported.

ENDS

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