Altium acquires Hoschar EDA business, largest German distributor of EDA tools
Altium set to increase European market penetration
SYDNEY, Australia – July 17, 2002 – Altium Limited (ASX: ALU), a leading developer of Windows-based electronic design and development software, today announced that it has acquired the EDA business of Hoschar AG, the leading distributor of Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools in Germany, for AUD$3.2m in cash and shares. This move is expected to consolidate and increase Altium’s market share in Europe – notably in Germany.
Germany is the largest EDA market in Europe and the second largest worldwide behind the USA. Over the past 14 years, Hoschar has introduced and implemented one of the most sophisticated and successful distribution channels in the EDA industry and has dominant market reach to electronic design professionals in Germany and Austria. It has also developed a highly automated and integrated direct marketing and telesales platform that has played a significant role in establishing the company as the leading EDA distributor in Germany.
With the acquisition of Hoschar, Altium will strengthen its position in Europe by utilizing Hoschar’s key strengths and expertise in customer relationship management, in the integration of direct marketing and sales of EDA tools, and in launching EDA products into German and other European markets. The acquisition is set to increase Altium’s German market penetration and improve the structure and organization of its European operations.
“Access to the Hoschar customer base, and its sales and marketing expertise will provide Altium with a unique opportunity to significantly increase market share in the German-speaking markets over the next 12-18 months,” says Kayvan Oboudiyat, Joint CEO, Altium Limited.
Frank Hoschar, Managing Director of Hoschar AG commented, “Since its launch in 1988, the Hoschar EDA business has been highly successful in selling both state-of-the-art and cost-effective desktop design tools to engineers and designers. With Altium’s extensive line of innovative, leading-edge technology and affordable EDA products, we are set for dominant penetration of this increasingly important market segment in Europe.”
The acquisition will benefit Hoschar customers by providing long-term stability in the product lineup, and will give them direct access to Altium’s comprehensive range of desktop EDA software and support services. Altium’s industry-leading brands include Protel and P-CAD board-level design systems, TASKING embedded software development toolsets, Accolade FPGA design systems and the CAMtastic! PCB CAM system.
The management teams of Altium and Hoschar are currently focusing on the seamless integration of the businesses, and are rapidly moving forward with strategies to bring Altium’s product and technology brands to an expanded customer base and strengthening Altium’s leading position in the desktop EDA market.
Existing customers and prospects of Hoschar will continue to receive the same level of service and communications as they did prior to the acquisition. Hoschar’s contact details will stay the same.
With this acquisition, Altium continues to break down the barriers to innovation and technological advancement by providing every engineer and system designer with easy access to the best possible design tools.
About Altium Limited
Altium Limited (ASX: ALU), trading as Protel International Limited (ASX: PRI) prior to August 6, 2001, is a leading global developer and supplier of desktop Electronic Design Automation (EDA) and embedded software design tools for the Microsoft Windows environment.
Since the Company’s foundation in 1985 and its release of the world’s first Microsoft Windows-based EDA tool in 1991, Altium has continued to apply the most advanced software design methods to provide powerful, easy-to-use and affordable design software to engineers and electronics designers worldwide.
Altium’s current product brands include Protel, P-CAD, TASKING, Accolade, CircuitMaker and CAMtastic!. These products offer tailored solutions covering a range of hardware and software design processes.
Altium is headquartered in Sydney, Australia, and operates a number of sales and support offices in Australia, the United States, Japan and Europe, as well as maintaining a large reseller network in all other major markets. More information about the Company and its products and services may be obtained from our website at http://www.altium.com.
About Hoschar
Hoschar AG is the leading value added reseller of electronic design automation software throughout the German-speaking region of Europe. Since starting its EDA business in 1987, Hoschar has experienced continuous growth and is now a leading player in the German desktop EDA market. Originally starting with Orcad, Hoschar has represented many leading manufacturers over the last 14 years including MicroSim, Cooper & Chyan, Protel and Cadence, and was instrumental in building brands such as Orcad, PSpice, SPECCTRA, Protel and many others in the German-speaking market.
Hoschar has customers of all sizes, ranging from small engineering companies to large enterprises such as Bosch, Infineon, Temic, Daimler-Chrysler and Siemens. Hoschar publishes a number of well-known publications, catalogs and CDs including EDA-NEWS and the EDA-Catalog as well as the Hoschar EDA-for-Windows CD which is widely acknowledged as the most comprehensive collection of EDA tool evaluations available.
Altium, Altium Total Support, Protel, Protel DXP, DXP, Design Explorer, nVisage, P-CAD, TASKING, Accolade, CircuitMaker, CAMtastic!, Situs and Topological Autorouting and their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Altium Limited or its subsidiaries. All other registered or unregistered trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners, and no trademark rights to the same are claimed.
Altium USA Media Contact
Janice Hughes
Hughes Communications, Inc.
15 Oak Tree Lane
Lyme, CT 06371
USA
Telephone: +1 860 434 3782
Fax: +1 860 434 3781
Email: janice@hughescom.net
Altium Corporate Media Contact
Jessica Maxwell
Altium Limited
Level 3, 12a Rodborough Road
Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086
Australia
http://www.altium.com
Telephone: +61 2 9975 7710
Fax: +61 2 9975 7720
Email: jessica.maxwell@altium.com.au
Hoschar Media Contact
Gabriele Amelunxen
PRismaPR
Telephone: 08106 / 24 72 33
Fax: 08106 / 24 72 34
Email: prismapr@compuserve.com Hoschar Corporate Media Contact
Frank Hoschar
Hoschar AG
Telephone: 0800 / 33 22 000
Fax: 0721 / 6261320
Email: frank.hoschar@hoschar.com
