Acquisition of Image Analysis and Pattern Recognition Software Provider
Combines Complementary Technologies to Address Health Care and Other Markets
BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J. and BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/
-- Authentidate Holding Corp. (Nasdaq: ADAT), a worldwide provider of secure
workflow management software and web-based services, and Parascript, LLC, an
image analysis and pattern recognition software provider, today announced that
the companies have signed a definitive merger agreement. Under the terms of
the agreement, Authentidate will acquire Parascript, for up to $10 million in
cash, a five year 10% note in the principal amount of $20 million, which is
subject to adjustment, 30 million shares of Authentidate common stock, and all
of the shares of Authentidate's German subsidiary, Authentidate International
AG. Contingent consideration based on the financial performance of a newly
formed business unit may also be paid in Authentidate common stock in 2012.
The transaction has been unanimously approved by the board of directors of
Authentidate and the manager of Parascript. The companies expect the
transaction to be completed in the fourth quarter of calendar year 2008.
Parascript's image analysis and pattern recognition software interprets
human thinking and behavioral patterns based on cognitive science, pattern
recognition, neural networks and artificial intelligence. For over a decade,
Parascript has continually improved and adapted its image analysis and pattern
recognition software to make it usable in a variety of applications for the
medical imaging, postal, mail automation, business process outsourcing,
banking and financial services industries.
For the calendar year ended December 31, 2007, Parascript had gross
revenues from continuing operations of approximately $22 million and net
income before taxes of approximately $6.9 million. Net income before taxes
included approximately $2.2 million in net losses from an entity being closed
down by Parascript, the net loss of which is included in income from
continuing operations.
F. Ross Johnson, Chairman of Authentidate Holding Corp., stated, 'We view
this as a strategic merger that brings together technologies from two forward
thinking companies working to revolutionize the operational infrastructure of
the healthcare industry by improving workflows and enhancing document
security. We believe the merger will help both companies build greater
momentum within the industry, growing their businesses and increasing
shareholder equity. As such, the Board believes that this transaction offers
Authentidate's shareholders a tremendous opportunity to maximize their
investment. I am confident I am leaving the company with a strong management
team to guide Authentidate along its new strategic path.'
Authentidate also announced that Mr. Johnson will be retiring from the
board after the closing of the merger.
Jeff Gilb, President and CEO of Parascript, who will become Chief
Executive Officer of the combined company, said, 'The combination of
Parascript and Authentidate presents new growth opportunities that were not
available to Parascript when it was privately held. The recognition software
industry is at the beginning of a significant transformation of applications
and services -- one that is projected to enable higher performance and greater
labor savings for our customers. This brings extraordinary opportunities for
our combined business to accelerate its growth. The combination creates a new
company with a comprehensive portfolio that will be poised to deliver
significant benefits to customers, employees and stockholders.'
'We have worked to add new services and penetrate new segments of the
multi-billion dollar healthcare industry,' stated Ben Benjamin, President of
Authentidate. 'The addition of Parascript's innovative intelligent recognition
software to our technology base will allow us to further develop our product
offerings.'
Transaction Terms
Authentidate's board of directors and the manager of Parascript LLC have
unanimously approved an agreement and plan of merger that will result in
Authentidate and Parascript becoming wholly-owned subsidiaries of a new
Authentidate holding corporation ('New Authentidate') and will continue to
trade under Authentidate's current Nasdaq stock symbol, 'ADAT.' Current
Authentidate stockholders will receive shares in the New Authentidate holding
corporation to replace their existing Authentidate shares. Any shares issued
to Parascript members in the transaction will be shares of New Authentidate.
Authentidate stockholders will exchange their existing shares of
Authentidate common stock, $.001 par value, for an equal number of shares of
common stock in New Authentidate. Under the merger agreement, Authentidate
and Parascript will survive as wholly owned subsidiaries of New Authentidate
and New Authentidate will be renamed 'Authentidate Holding Corp.' on the
closing of the transaction. All of the outstanding units of Parascript will
be exchanged, less certain amounts required to pay outstanding debt and
obligations, for a total of up to $10 million in cash all of the shares of
Authentidate's subsidiary Authentidate International AG (the 'AG Shares'), 30
million shares of New Authentidate common stock, and a 10% note in the
principal amount of $20 million, which is subject to adjustment (the 'Note').
Principal and interest on the Note are subject to certain restrictions on
payment.
After the closing, New Authentidate will form a subsidiary to exploit
certain markets for Parascript's image analysis and pattern recognition
technology. The Parascript unit holders will also be entitled to receive
additional shares of New Authentidate common stock equal to ten times the
average annual EBITDA achieved for fiscal years 2010 and 2011, divided by
$3.00.
Upon the closing, the size of the board of directors of New Authentidate
will be increased from six to nine members comprised of four nominees of
Parascript and four nominees of Authentidate and the CEO of New Authentidate.
Aron Katz will become non-executive Chairman of the Board of New Authentidate
effective at the closing of the merger; Jeffrey Gilb, currently the Chief
Executive Officer of Parascript will become Chief Executive Officer of New
Authentidate; and O'Connell Benjamin will become President of New Authentidate
after the merger.
Duff & Phelps advised the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of
Authentidate and provided a fairness opinion to the Special Committee. Becker
& Poliakoff, LLP acted as legal counsel to Authentidate. Davis Graham &
Stubbs, LLP acted as legal counsel to Parascript.
About Authentidate Holding Corp.
Authentidate Holding Corp. is a worldwide provider of secure workflow
management software and web-based services. The company's automated and
trusted workflow solutions enable enterprises and office professionals to
employ rules-based electronic forms, intelligent routing and transaction
management, electronic signing, content authentication, identity credentialing
and verification and web and fax based communication capabilities. Customer
benefits from the company's offerings include increased revenues, reduced
costs, improved productivity and service levels, automated audit trails,
enhanced compliance with regulatory requirements and the reduction of paper-
based processes. The company has offices in the United States and Germany. In
the United States we offer our patent pending content authentication
technology in the form of the United States Postal Service(R) Electronic
Postmark(R) (EPM).
About Parascript
The Parascript image analysis suite extracts meaningful information from
images. Employing patented digital image analysis and pattern recognition
technologies, the Parascript image analysis suite automates costly data entry
and improves decision quality in medical imaging, postal and payment
automation, fraud detection and forms processing operations. Parascript
software processes over 100 billion imaged documents per year. Fortune 500
companies, postal operators, major government and financial institutions rely
on Parascript products. Organizations include the U.S. Postal Service, Bowe
Bell & Howell, CheckFree -- now part of Fiserv, Elsag, Lockheed Martin, NCR,
Siemens and Unisys.
Additional Information About this Transaction
In connection with the proposed transaction, Authentidate will file with
the Securities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC'), a Registration Statement
on Form S-4, containing a joint proxy statement of Authentidate and
Parascript, and a prospectus of Authentidate covering the New Authentidate
common stock to be issued to Parascript unit holders upon closing of the
transaction. Authentidate and Parascript will mail the Joint Proxy
Statement/Prospectus to their respective security holders. The joint proxy
statement/prospectus contains important information on the transaction and
Authentidate and Parascript urge investors and security holders to read the
joint proxy statement/prospectus when it becomes available.
Investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the
Registration Statement and the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus and other
documents filed with the SEC by and through the web site maintained by the SEC
at www.sec.gov. In addition, investors and security holders will be able to
obtain free copies of the Registration Statement and the Joint Proxy
Statement/Prospectus when they become available from Authentidate by using the
contact information for Authentidate Investor Relations set forth below.
Not a Proxy Statement
This press release is not a proxy statement or a solicitation of proxies
from the holders of common stock of Authentidate or the unit holders of
Parascript and does not constitute an offer of any securities of Authentidate
for sale. Any solicitation of proxies will be made only by the joint proxy
statement/prospectus of Authentidate and Parascript that will be mailed to all
security holders promptly after it is declared effective by the SEC. The joint
proxy statement/prospectus will contain important information on the
transaction. Investors and security holders of Authentidate and Parascript
are urged to read the joint proxy statement/prospectus and the relevant
materials when they become available.
For more information, please contact:
Investor Contacts:
Authentidate:
Media Contacts:
Todd Fromer / Garth Russell Erika Kay
KCSA Worldwide KCSA Worldwide
212-896-1215 / 212-896-1250 212-896-1208
tfromer@kcsa.com / grussell@kcsa.com ekay@kcsa.com
You may obtain copies of all documents filed with the SEC regarding this
transaction, free of charge, at the SEC's website (www.sec.gov). You may also
obtain these documents, free of charge, from Authentidate's website
(www.authentidate.com) under the tab 'About Us - Investor Relations and then
under the item 'SEC Filings'.
Proxy Solicitation
Authentidate and Parascript and their respective directors, executive
officers and certain other members of management and employees may be
soliciting proxies from Authentidate stockholders in favor of the merger.
Information regarding the persons who may, under the rules of the SEC, be
considered participants in the solicitation of the Authentidate stockholders
in connection with the proposed merger will be set forth in the proxy
statement/prospectus when it is filed with the SEC. You can find information
about Authentidate's executive officers and directors in its definitive proxy
statement filed with the SEC on March 28, 2008. You can obtain free copies of
these documents from the SEC free of charge at the SEC's web site at
www.sec.gov and from Authentidate using the contact information above.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning
of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities
Act of 1934. When used in this release, the words 'believe,' 'anticipate,'
'think,' 'intend,' 'plan,' 'will be,' 'expect,' and similar expressions
identify such forward-looking statements. Such statements regarding future
events and/or the future financial performance of the Company are subject to
certain risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual events or the actual
future results of the Company to differ materially from any forward-looking
statement. Such risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the
availability of any needed financing, the Company's ability to implement its
business plan for various applications of its technologies, related decisions
by the USPS, the impact of competition, the management of growth, the success
of the merger and the combined business and the other risks and uncertainties
that may be detailed from time to time in the Company's reports filed with the
SEC. In light of the significant risks and uncertainties inherent in the
forward-looking statements included herein, the inclusion of such statements
should not be regarded as a representation by the Company or any other person
that the objectives and plans of the Company will be achieved.
SOURCE Authentidate Holding Corp.