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Visio Corporation Announces Acquisition of Technology and Assets of
SysDraw Software Co.
Acquisition Contributes to Company's Commitment to Networking Market
SEATTLE, May 1 -- Visio Corp. today announced that it has acquired
certain assets of SysDraw Software Co., a privately-held network
design and documentation solutions provider and developer of SysDraw
-- The Network Illustrator and SysDraw Shapes designed for Visio(R)
software products, located in Lombard, Ill. Under the terms of the
agreement, Visio has acquired technology including the world's
largest library of network diagramming shapes, an operating
organization for creating new network diagramming shapes and
solutions and certain other technology and assets for a committed
consideration totaling $6.5 million. Visio may pay additional
consideration if sales of the SysDraw products meet certain
performance goals within the next three years. Visio will account
for the acquisition as a purchase with approximately $3.0 million of
the purchase price expensed as in-process R&D in the June 1997
quarter. Excluding the one-time charge in the June 1997 quarter, it
is not expected that the acquisition will be dilutive to earnings.
As part of the acquisition Visio expects to employ 12 staff members
in development, sales and marketing from Sysdraw Software Co. These
employees will be located at a new Visio office in Lombard, Ill.,
and will continue to develop, market and sell the product currently
titled Sysdraw Shapes designed for Visio software products.
"SysDraw's contribution as the undisputed market leader in supplying
images of network equipment to business, coupled with the successful
introduction of Visio Professional, will play an essential role in
solidifying Visio's long-term strategy as the worldwide leader in
network design and documentation," said Jeremy Jaech, president and
CEO of Visio Corp. "Additionally, SysDraw's relationship with
network equipment vendors, its resources to quickly create and
deliver content and its considerable expertise in the overall
network tools market will prove to be a tremendous asset for Visio."
The library of network diagramming shapes acquired from SysDraw
includes more than 5,000 shapes ported to the Visio format and more
than 4,400 shapes currently in production. The SysDraw Shapes for
Visio products will be offered as an add-on product and, combined
with Visio Professional, will provide a powerful solution to the
information technology professional. Visio will continue to offer
SysDraw's subscription program whereby customers can purchase the
right to receive periodic updates to the shapes library.
"For more than 5 years, our business and expertise has been focused
on leadership in high-end graphics technology and tools for the
network professional," said SysDraw President John Rigas. "With the
combined strength of Visio as the drawing and diagramming standard
among corporations, systems integrators and hardware manufacturers,
we can better meet demand for network documentation as a requirement
throughout the industry."
SOURCE Visio Corp
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