16th Jan 2007 15:25
Amphion Innovations plc ("Amphion"), a builder of companies inlife sciences and technology, today announces that it has signed aHeads of Agreement with a Gulf-based investment company, MS Holdings,backed by the Al-Sayer and Al-Mutawa families of Kuwait, to create aGulf-based joint venture, MSA Investors ("MSA"). £ The Gulf Cooperation Council countries of the Arabian Gulf nowrepresent the fastest growing economy after China and India. Buildingon Amphion's company-building strategy and its long-standing ties tothe region, the joint venture's objective will be to create newmarkets and strategic partnerships for Amphion's Partner Companies,identify new investment opportunities in the region in areas ofparticular Amphion expertise and provide strong access to capital andopportunities from both existing and new Gulf investors. £ Under the Heads of Agreement, Amphion commits to the formation andincorporation of MSA and to the establishment and operation of twoadditional companies to be managed by MSA, Saydanah and Suvani.Amphion's Gulf partners have committed US$1 million to the creation ofthese companies and additional investment upon their completion. £ Saydanah is being established by our partners in the region inorder to bring "functional foods" to a sizeable and wealthy Arabmarket. Saydanah will be built upon Amphion's experience and expertisein the field of nutrigenomics, a science that identifies foods thatalter gene expression for better health, through its Partner Company,WellGen. £ Suvani, which has previously been incorporated by Amphion, iscurrently providing skilled software and technology support servicesfrom India to Amphion Partner Companies, Motif and FireStar. Under theHeads of Agreement, Suvani will be merged with a Gulf-based radiofrequency identification company (RFID), to be developed by MSA, withthe aim of servicing a growing Gulf RFID market. It is expected thatthe new company will acquire an exclusive right to distribute theproducts in the Gulf of Amphion's Partner Company, Axcess, a leadingRFID company. £ The Gulf partners have committed to provide an additional US$3.5million to fund the further development of MSA and its companies upontheir formation. Amphion will also transfer 500,000 shares in Motif toMSA in return for a 50% interest in the new Company. Following itsinitial capitalization, MSA will have an estimated enterprise value of$10 million. £ MSA is expected to be formed no later than 1 March 2007. In theevent that MSA is not formed, then MSA shall invest the US$1 millionby way of subscribing for 166,667 shares in Motif, and investingUS$500,000 in the Gulf-based companies to be formed by Amphion in thefuture. £ Richard C.E. Morgan Amphion's Chief Executive Officer states: £ "The last several years have seen dramatic economic development inthe Gulf, which has been matched by rapid growth in the region'scapital markets. While the region is relatively rich in capital and intalented people, there is little experience of building companiesbased on cutting edge technology. With Amphion's 20 year history andtrack record of investment and close relationships in the Gulf region,we look forward to bringing our core strategy of building strongcompanies with solid intellectual property to the Gulf." £ About Amphion Innovations plc £ Amphion Innovations plc is listed on the AIM Exchange in Londonunder the symbol AMP. Amphion's business is the formation, financing,management and development of life sciences and technology companies,primarily in the US and UK, working in partnership with corporations,governments, universities and entrepreneurs seeking to commercializetheir intellectual property. Amphion's management team has built morethan 30 companies in 20 years, all of which have achieved value inexcess of $120 million. £ On the web: www.amphionplc.com £ About Motif BioSciences, Inc. £ Motif BioSciences is a population genetics company focused ondiscovering genes causing common diseases by utilising human geneticdata from the Persian/Arabian Gulf region. Motif is headquartered inthe US and London, with additional operations in the Gulf region todevelop epidemiological, genealogical and genetic information. £ On the web: www.motifbio.com £ About WellGen, Inc. £ WellGen, Inc., based in New Brunswick, NJ, is a biotechnologycompany that is discovering and developing products for food,therapeutics, and dietary supplement markets. WellGen's technicalplatform is a method of screening the effect of food and relatedsubstances on the expression of genes associated with human healthconditions. The company has developed proprietary substances that helpreduce risk and severity for a variety of diseases. £ On the web: www.wellgen.com £ About AXCESS International Inc. £ AXCESS International Inc. (OTCBB:AXSI), headquartered in greaterDallas, TX, provides Enterprise DotTM, Dual-ActiveTM RFID (radiofrequency identification) and Real Time Location Systems (RTLS) forasset management, physical security, sensing and supply chainefficiencies. The battery-powered (active) RFID tags locate, identify,track, monitor, count, and protect people, assets, inventory, andvehicles. The patented technology enables applications including:automatic "hands-free" personnel access control, automatic vehicleaccess control and logistics management, automatic asset management,and sensor management. AXCESS is a portfolio company of AmphionInnovations plc. £ On the web: www.axcessinc.com £ About FireStar Software, Inc. £ FireStar is the provider of EdgeNode, the leading InterEnterpriseService Bus software product for building software applications thatautomate the exchange of business transactions between companies thatare business partners - buyers, sellers, suppliers, vendors,manufacturers, and distributors. FireStar's EdgeNode expands themarket for these InterEnterprise Transaction Applications by directlyaddressing key obstacles to broader adoption at a significantly lowerprice point than alternative approaches. £ On the web: www.firestarsoftware.com Copyright Business Wire 2007Related Shares:
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