ST Engineering's US Company Acquires Parallel Limited

(Singapore, December 31, 2009) -- Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd (ST Engineering) today announced that VT iDirect, Inc. (iDirect) has, through its wholly owned subsidiary, iDirect UK Limited, acquired 100% of Parallel Limited (Parallel). The 100% stake was acquired from existing shareholders, who are management employees, at an enterprise valuation of GBP 3.9m (about S$9m). The purchase consideration was arrived at on a willing buyer willing seller basis, based on Parallel's unaudited net tangible assets as of 30 December 2009 and taking into consideration Parallel's past performance and future prospects and will be fully paid in cash. iDirect is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vision Technologies Systems, Inc. (VT Systems), the US headquarters of ST Engineering.

This acquisition is not expected to have any material impact on the consolidated net tangible assets per share and earnings per share of ST Engineering for the current financial year.


Subsequent to the acquisition, Parallel will be merged into iDirect UK Limited. Parallel's chairman and chief executive officer will retire from the company while its chief technology officer and entire development team will join iDirect's engineering group.

iDirect and Parallel have been working together for the past three years. Parallel's technology is strategically important to iDirect as both companies share product synergies and common market focus. Parallel's products, including SatManage, will become part of the iDirect product portfolio. SatManage is a sophisticated Web-based management system designed to meet the demanding requirements of large-scale, complex networks. SatManage will serve as an extension to iDirect's existing iVantage network management systems, adding powerful automation, monitoring and service optimisation capabilities to the iDirect platform.

"Satellite communications networks are becoming more complex and there is a growing demand for a more comprehensive range of solutions including scalable network management systems. With this acquisition, iDirect will be better poised to support global satellite service providers that manage large-scale, complex IP networks, filling a strategic product need that allows the group to address growth markets." ~ LEE Fook Sun, President, Electronics sector.

Source : Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd (SGX: ST Engg)