Birdstep Technology Has Completed the Acquisition of Alice Systems AB

Birdstep Technology Has Completed the Acquisition of Alice Systems AB

Acquisition Strengthens the Market Channel Towards the Operators

OSLO, Norway, Dec. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Birdstep Technology has today carried out the acquisition of Alice Systems AB; a technology company specialized in connection manager solutions favored by major European operators.

Alice Systems and Birdstep Technology have complementary operations, both on the technology and the market side. The companies know each other well in the past based on a partnership established more than a year ago. The addition of the Alice Systems product range to Birdstep's current seamless mobility products will provide Birdstep with the capability to significantly broaden its solutions capability whilst concurrently providing an integrated solution that caters today's needs of the operators.

"Alice Systems is the world's leading provider of wireless connectivity client software, while Birdstep has the most advanced Mobile IP solution in today's market," said Jorgen Bredesen, CEO of Birdstep Technology. "Together, the companies can deliver a best-in-class solution that enables wireless operators to improve their customer experience as they move between available wireless networks. Alice Systems extensive experience in sales and cooperation with operators will be very beneficial to meet our goals."

Alice will strengthen Birdstep with a broader technical competence in addition to reinforcements on the sales force. Alice already has 34 operators as customers and their products have been soled to operators for over two years. Furthermore Alice is currently developing exciting new products and solutions.

"This deal brings benefits to Alice Systems existing customers by bringing new technology into the established commercialised product," says Jorgen Bredesen. "Birdstep also benefits of this deal by positioning ourselves in front of the customer earlier in the sales process. Alice's technology is the first step taken by operators towards a total seamless mobility solution. It is a mature solution with long history of meeting the commercial needs of our target customers, the operators."

In the final agreement, Birdstep Technology has acquired 100% of the shares of Alice Systems AB for the total consideration of 2.97 million shares in Birdstep Technology and a cash payment of NOK 45 million (USD 7.3 million) in compensation and transaction costs. In addition an agreement has been made concerning a potential "earn out" with a maximum limit of NOK 26 million (USD 4.2 million) subject to Alice reaching certain sales targets for 2005.

About Birdstep Technology

Birdstep Technology is traded on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE) under ticker 'BIRD'. The company has headquarters in Oslo and Seattle in addition to offices in Boston, Frankfurt, Cambridge, San Francisco and Shanghai. Birdstep's small footprint, high performance database technologies combined with its wireless roaming and access software enables companies to build innovative solutions for embedded systems and the Mobile Internet. Birdstep makes your information accessible anytime, anywhere, on any device and on any infrastructure. Birdstep's global customers and partners include Cisco (CSCO), 3Com (COMS), Alcatel (EPA), Ericsson (ERICY), Nortel Networks (NT), HP (HPQ), Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Accenture (ACN), PCTel (PCTI), Connect One and Telenor (TELN). For more information, visit http://www.birdstep.com/ .

About Alice Systems

Alice Systems' mission is to enable applications like email and web access on PCs, laptops and PDAs, to be easy to use and access when communicating over GPRS, WLAN and 3G. Alice Systems provides software clients to wireless operators and has received commercial contracts from 31 network operators worldwide including T-Mobile Group, Vodafone Group, KPN Group and O2 among others. In addition, more than 60 operators worldwide have or are currently testing Alice Systems' software. Alice Systems is owned by Argnor Wireless Ventures, ACR Capital and Northstream. For more information: http://www.alicesystems.com/ .

For further information, please contact:
Jorgen Bredesen, CEO, Birdstep Technology ASA, + 47 48252584
Hans Petter Hauge, CFO, Birdstep Technology ASA, + 47 92845880
Anders Bjorkman, Chariman, Alice Systems AB, + 46 707700077



Source: Birdstep Technology

CONTACT: Jorgen Bredesen, CEO, Birdstep Technology ASA, +47-48252584, or
Hans Petter Hauge, CFO, Birdstep Technology ASA, +47-92845880, or Anders
Bjorkman, Chariman, Alice Systems AB, +46-707700077

Web site: http://www.alicesystems.com/
http://www.birdstep.com/


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