Artilium PLC - Re: Acquisition

RNS Number:6825N
Artilium PLC
11 February 2008

11 February 2008

Artilium plc

Announcement of Acquisition

Artilium Acquires Location-Based Software Innovator Trisent Communications

Artilium plc (LSE/AIM: ARTA) ("Artilium" or "the Company"), a European leader in
advanced telecommunications software is pleased to announce the acquisition of
Trisent Communications Limited ("Trisent"). Trisent is a specialist in
Location-Based Services ("LBS") technology that enables mobile network operators
to deliver services to subscribing customers based on the geographic location of
their mobile phone.

The Directors believe that the Location-Based Services market represents an
emerging and fast growing segment in the communications arena. According to
research from Gartner Group, the total number of subscriptions to LBS in Western
Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and Japan is expected to grow from 7m in
2006 to 298m in 2011.* According to Strategy Analytics, in North America alone,
end-user spending on location aware mobile services is expected to grow from
$110m at the end of 2006 to $2.2bn by the end of 2011**.

The Directors believe that Trisent's technology will effectively complement
Artilium's own ARTA Service Delivery Platform to allow operators to rate, charge
and deliver an array of services which combine location, presence, commerce and
social networks, among other criteria. As a result, the Company believes it is
positioned to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the evolving
market segment.

Trisent's technology provides network operators with the ability to offer
real-time tracking services similar to GPS but without the need for satellites
or the installation of other costly equipment on the network. The technology
works by using standard phone handsets which the Directors believe offers
several additional advantages over GPS. These include significant cost savings,
lower battery requirements, increased indoor coverage (an advantage for social
networking applications) and 'always on' status (whereas GPS can be turned off).
This new technology, when added to the ARTA platform, will allow Artilium to
offer a wide range of new functionality to new and existing customers.

Trisent is based in Dunfermline, Scotland and was founded by Dr Gordon Povey
PhD, inventor of Trisent's core Tri-Cell Intelligent Location System, who will
remain with the Company as part of the terms of the acquisition. Trisent has
been funded to date by Sigma Capital Group plc.

Trisent currently has a licensing agreement for its solutions with Max Telecom:
a fixed and wireless telecommunications operator in Bulgaria. Max Telecom is
currently using Trisent's solutions to aid workforce management and fleet
tracking and will expand this to offer mobile customers a wide range of
location-aware services including personal security, lone worker protection and
services industry employee deployment.

The consideration for the acquisition is £1.7m, which will be satisfied via a
cash element of £460,000 and via the issue of 1,240,000 Artilium shares to
Trisent shareholders. Of this amount, the issue of 301,875 Artilium shares will
be deferred dependent on the achievement of certain prescribed development
milestones. The consideration shares are all subject to orderly market
undertakings. The number of Artilium shares in issue on completion of the
acquisition (i.e. prior to the issue of any deferred element) will be
58,787,925. Application has been made for 938,125 new ordinary shares to be
admitted to trading on AIM. It is expected that admission will take place on 14
February 2008. The new ordinary shares to be issued for the acquisition rank
pari passu in all respects with the existing issued share capital.

As reported in its unaudited financial statements for the year ended 31 August
2007, Trisent reported a profit before tax for the period of £24,142 and had net
assets at the period end of £64,541.

Announcing the acquisition Artilium Chief Executive Officer, Robert Marcus,
said:

"Mobile presence is the most innovative revenue generating opportunity for
network operators today. By combining location with presence and status,
consumers can see the availability of the people they want to reach, mobile
network operators can provide contextually aware services, and brands can better
personalize mobile experiences. Add commerce to the mix and the vision and
monetization of location-based services is truly realized."

Confirming the value and application of Trisent's technology Krassimir
Stoitcheff, CEO of Max Telecom, commented:

"In our initial roll-out of Trisent technology in the business-to-business
market, we have realised a cost saving of up to 25 times compared with GPS
fleet tracking equivalents. We are very pleased with the Trisent technology and
have hugely satisfied customers using it. We are excited about the
opportunities for future services, revenues and the growth ahead."

Dr Gordon Povey PhD, founder of Trisent welcomed the announcement of the
acquisition and the combination of Trisent and Artilium technologies:

"I look forward to bringing Trisent's location awareness technology to
Artilium's new wave of mobile unified communications services."

* Gartner Group Dataquest Insight: Location- Based Services Subscriber and
Revenue Forecast, 2006-2011 29 January 2008

** Strategy Analytics: North America Consumer Location Based Services (LBS)
Forecast. 3 August 2007

Enquiries:

Financial Dynamics Tel: +44 (0)20 7831 3113
Harriet Keen/Matt Dixon

Deloitte Corporate Finance (NOMAD) Tel: +44 (0)20 7936 3000
Jonathan Hinton/David Smith

Panmure Gordon & Co. Tel: +44 (0)20 7459 3600
Dominic Morley/Giles Stewart

Artilium plc Tel: +44 (0)20 7402 7268
Chris Ogle

About Artilium:

Artilium unifies mobile communications and cleverly connects people in motion
with easy access to the knowledge and commerce they need to live balanced and
considered lives.

Artilium develops software in the heart of the telecoms network. ARTA, the
company's IMS-compliant service delivery platform, first converges and then
intelligently controls networks to enable fast, efficient deployment and
monetization of innovative, differentiated mobile unified communications
solutions for operators.

Founded in 1995 and recognised for its engineering talent and unique combination
of IT and telecom expertise, Artilium has completed more than 40 installations
serving tens of millions of end-users in 11 countries. Artilium plc is a
publicly listed company on AIM: the Alternative Investment Market of the London
Stock Exchange (LSE/AIM: ARTA). For more information, please visit:
www.artilium.com.

Ends

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