Raysat Closes $27 Million (USD) Investment Led by Apax Partners' Funds

Raysat Closes $27 Million (USD) Investment Led by Apax Partners' Funds

VIENNA, Va., July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Raysat, Inc. a leading global supplier of in-motion satellite antennas for cars and trains, announced it has closed a $27 million investment round. Funds advised by Apax Partners led the round with an $18.6 million investment. The round was supported by existing investors Benchmark and Seed Partners.

RaySat is a leading manufacturer and supplier of in-motion low-profile satellite antennas for the automotive, RV, train, and trucking industries. The Company was first to introduce several products and solutions such as the TorpedoRay(TM) and EagleRay(TM) antennas that provide one-way and two-way Internet access on high-speed trains; the SpeedRay(TM) five-inch, low-profile line to provide Satellite TV and/or Internet for moving automobiles and the StealthRay(TM) two-inch Satellite TV antenna designed to be embedded in the roof of consumer vehicles.

The Company is led by an industry renowned management team: Chairman Mr. Yoel Gat spent more than 16 years as cofounder and CEO of Gilat Satellite Networks, a world leader in very small aperture terminal satellite (VSAT) communications. Mr. Samer Salameh, the President & CEO, has more than 14 years of experience in the telecommunications and high tech industries. Most notably, he served as chairman and CEO of Prodigy Communications Corp., where he grew revenues from $20 million to over $300 million in two years. Other key executives include Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Liav Even Chen, former partner at Ernst & Young and Mr. Niki Bassat, Chief Operations Officer, formerly COO of Power Paper, COO of Satlynx and VP of Operations at Gilat.

"We are pleased to welcome Apax Partners' Funds as lead investors in our B round. This financing will provide us with the resources necessary to accelerate our expansion in this new industry, which is expected to grow to over $700M by 2009 according to a Frost and Sullivan research published earlier this year," notes Mr. Salameh. "RaySat is already well positioned as a leading player in this space, and will now be poised to accelerate its momentum. We started shipping our SpeedRay 1000 to our partner Audiovox last quarter, and will now increase our production to keep up with pent-up demand from other channels."

Pinchas Buchris, Venture Partner at Apax Partners said: "We believe this is a unique opportunity to invest in a high-potential company who has an outstanding management team with proven track record in the satellite and internet services space. RaySat is targeting an untapped market, which is much in line with the newest and most rewarded entertainment trends in the automotive market".

Pinchas Buchris will represent Apax Partners on the Board of Raysat.

About Raysat

In business since 1997, RaySat(TM), Inc. is a leading supplier of in- motion, low profile, phased-array satellite antennas. With the company's TorpedoRay(TM) product already enabling broadband Internet access on high- speed trains in Europe, RaySat(TM) has positioned itself as a leader in the rear-seat automotive entertainment industry with the launch of its consumer antennas in the U.S. and Canada. Staffed by over 120 professionals, RaySat(TM) is headquartered in Vienna, Va., with R&D and sales facilities in Europe and representative offices in Japan.

For additional information, see http://www.raysat.com/

About Apax Partners Apax Partners is one of the world's leading private equity investment groups, operating across the United States, Europe and Israel. Apax Partners has raised or advised approximately $20 billion around the world. With more than 30 years of direct investing experience, Apax Partners' Funds provide long- term equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies. It pursues a multi-stage equity investment strategy, investing in late venture, growth capital and buyouts.

Apax Partners' Funds invest in companies across its 6 chosen global sectors of information technology, telecommunications, healthcare, media, financial/business services, retail and consumer. Apax Partners' Funds technology and telecommunications investments include Dialog Semiconductor, DMR Consulting, Digital Fuel, Fractus, Frontier Silicon, Kabel Deutschland, Inmarsat, Systemonic, Preventsys, Sonim Technologies and Wisair. For additional information, see: http://www.apax.com/ or contact marketing@apax.com.

http://www.apax.com

Source: Raysat, Inc.

CONTACT: Brian Shaffer, +1-818-887-8838, for Raysat, Inc.

Web site: http://www.raysat.com/

-------
Profile: intent