European Tech Wire - May 11, 2005

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EUROPEAN TECH WIRE - March 11, 2005
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To Subscribe: http://www.techwiremedia.com/europe

o U.S.-Based Wayport Acquires Denmark-Based NetPoint
o Report: U.K. Education Agency Set to Endorse Open Source
o Report: VC Investment in U.K. Increases by 50% in 2004
o Hutchison Whampoa to Speed Up Acquisition of 3 UK
o Sybase Acquires Avaki and ISDD for Undisclosed Amount
o Pentech and Iris Capital Lead Investment in OmniPerception
o Briefly Noted: Google-Mini U.K., Perlico Communications-
Irish MVNO, PCG Asset Management-European Office-
Michael Russell
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o U.S.-Based Wayport Acquires Denmark-Based NetPoint

Copenhagen -- Wayport, a U.S.-based Wi-Fi provider, announced that
it has acquired NetPoint A/S, a Denmark-based provider of high-speed
Internet access for the hospitality industry in Europe and the Middle
East. Financial terms were not disclosed. Wayport provides wired high-
speed Internet access to mobile travellers in more than 9,000 locations
for companies including McDonald's and Hertz, as well as a number of
hotels and airports. Wayport said the Copenhagen-based NetPoint team
would spearhead the company's expansion plans in Europe and the
Middle East. "With Wayport's leadership in North America and
NetPoint's leadership in Europe and the Middle East, we can provide
hotels and other strategic venues a global solution and offer their
customers an exceptional Internet experience," said Wayport CEO
Dave Vucina.
http://www.wayport.net/press/193
http://www.netpoint.com/
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o Report: U.K. Education Agency Set to Endorse Open Source

London -- The Times Educational Supplement reported that the British
Educational Communications and Technology Association (Becta) is
planning to release a report later this month encouraging U.K. schools
to migrate to open-source systems. The Times Educational Supplement
said a copy of the report leaked to the media estimated that U.K.
primary schools would be able to reduce their IT costs by as much as
50% if they adopted open-source software. Secondary schools would
be able to lower costs by as much as a quarter. While the report did not
mention Microsoft by name, the Supplement said it encouraged U.K.
schools to consider dumping proprietary systems made the U.S.-based
software giant, among others. Industry experts said Microsoft would
likely be disappointed by the report's conclusion, especially considering
the fact the IT-system market for U.K. schools is currently worth about
£1 billion.
http://www.tes.co.uk/2094985
http://www.becta.org.uk/
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o Report: VC Investment in U.K. Increases by 50% in 2004

London -- According to a new report by the British Venture Capital
Association (BVCA), investment by U.K. private equity firms reached
a record £9.7 billion last year, an increase of more than 50% over the
£6.4 billion invested in 2003. The BVCA's annual Report on
Investment Activity found that investment outside the U.K. accounted
for about 45% of all U.K. companies' activity and that investment in the
U.S. increased by 57% to £459 million. Investment on the Continent
nearly doubled from £2 billion to £3.9bn over the same period. The
number of start-up investments increased from 185 to 190, while the
total amount invested in start-ups increased from £73 million to more
than £96 million.
http://www.bvca.co.uk/index.html
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o Hutchison Whampoa to Speed Up Acquisition of 3 UK

London -- Hutchison Whampoa, a Hong Kong-based ports-to-
telecommunications group, announced that it plans to speed up its
acquisition of DoCoMo and KPN's holdings in 3G operator Hutchison
3G UK. Hutchison said it would pay £90 million and £120 million,
respectively, for 15% and 20% stakes owned by Dutch operator KPN
Mobile and Japan's NTT DoCoMo. Hutchison said it expected to close
the deals, which will make 3 UK a wholly owned Hutchison subsidiary,
by June 23. Hutchison said it would record a £643-million net profit as
soon as it completed the deals, which come nearly two years earlier
than originally planned and effectively end an often rocky relationship.
http://www.hutchison-whampoa.com/eng/index.htm
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o Sybase Acquires Avaki and ISDD for Undisclosed Amount

London -- Sybase Inc., a U.S.-based provider of enterprise
infrastructure and mobile software, announced that it has acquired
Avaki, a U.S.-based data integration firm. Sybase also acquired ISDD
Ltd., a London-based firm that offers a Bayesian search product, which
conducts searches using "conceptual understanding", as opposed to just
keywords. Sybase said the acquisitions would help it expand beyond its
straight database business and move away from an increasingly
competitive server market. "(The ISDD deal) is a major win for our
many customers with unstructured data management requirements,
especially in some of our key verticals like financial, healthcare and
government," said Sybase CEO John Chen. Financial terms for the
deals were not disclosed.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?Q39D14E0B
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o Pentech and Iris Capital Lead Investment in OmniPerception

London -- OmniPerception Ltd., a U.K.-based computer vision and
biometrics company, announced that it has secured an undisclosed
amount of venture-capital financing. Glasgow-based Pentech Ventures
and Paris-based Iris Capital led the round. "OmniPerception met our
principal investment criteria of having strategically important
Intellectual Property aimed at a very large market opportunity," said
Pentech Ventures Director Sandy McKinnon. "The technology team is
first rate, and we were also attracted by the quality of the executive
management who have achieved so much to date." OmniPerception,
which develops automatic facial verification technologies, said it would
use the funds to increase sales and develop Intelligent Video products.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?D2CD11E0B
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o Briefly Noted:

(London) Google Inc., a U.S.-based Internet search giant, announced
that it is launching a low-cost hardware and software Mini package in
the U.K. that small and medium-sized companies can use for searching
their own websites. Google said the Mini, which will sell for about
£1,955, would help law firms, healthcare groups, government agencies
and other organisations to organise and access with hundreds of
thousands of documents. "Content is dramatically increasing
everywhere, and it is no longer limited to documents, spreadsheets and
presentations," said Roberto Solimene, enterprises sales director at
Google Europe. "With more web pages, weblogs, wikis and other
content, businesses of every size are having a hard time keeping track
of it all."
http://www.google.co.uk/enterprise/mini/

(Dublin) Perlico Communications, an Ireland-based provider of fixed-
line and broadband services, announced that it has informed ComReg,
Ireland's telecommunications regulator, of its intention to provide an
alternative mobile service as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator
(MVNO). Perlico said it made its decision to launch an MVNO after
ComReg ruled that Vodafone and O2 held joint dominance within the
Irish mobile market and forced the two U.K.-based operators to grant
competitors access to their networks. Perlico said it was in talks with a
number of operators and that it hoped to begin operations within the
next few months.
http://www.perlico.com/
http://makeashorterlink.com/?V16B22E0B

(Geneva) PCG Asset Management, a division of U.S.-based investment
management and advisory firm Pacific Corporate Group, announced
that it has set up a European office in Switzerland. The new office will
be run by Michael Russell, PCG's managing director for Europe. "As
our European investor base has grown, we recognised the importance
of a significant presence on the Continent," said PCG Asset
Management President Monte Brem. "We are pleased that (Russell)
will continue to oversee our activities in the region from our base in
Geneva." PCG said it selected Geneva because of its access to clients
throughout Europe and its strength as an international financial centre.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?F2AB51E0B 
http://www.pcgfunds.com/assetmanagement.html

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