Aricent Debuts As Communications Software Pure Play
Newly Independent Company Takes the Lead in Providing
Software Services and Products for Communications Equipment
Manufacturers, Device Manufacturers and Service Providers
Palo Alto, CA – October 26, 2006 –
Aricent, a full-service, full-spectrum communications
software company, debuts today, offering an unrivaled
portfolio of software services and products for the
communications industry. With its launch, Aricent sets
the standard for designing, developing and maintaining
software that enables communications equipment manufacturers,
device manufacturers and service providers to improve
time-to-revenue and maximize efficiency.
Aricent, previously the software development and solutions
business of Flextronics International Ltd., is introducing
its new name following the acquisition of 85% of the
business on September 4, 2006 by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
& Co. (KKR) and Sequoia Capital. Flextronics retains
15% ownership. The transaction valued the entire business
at approximately $900 million.
Aricent’s proven track record builds on the success
of its predecessor, Hughes Software Systems, which was
established in 1991. The company became Flextronics
Software Systems in 2004, when it and other assets were
acquired by Flextronics. frog design, the leading strategic,
creative consulting firm, was acquired by Flextronics
in 2004 and has been part of the software development
and solutions business since the summer of 2005. It
will continue to operate as an independent division
of Aricent. For almost four decades, frog design has
identified emerging market opportunities and transformed
ideas into compelling products and services that billions
of people experience and enjoy every day.
“Communications technologies have grown increasingly
complex, and consumers expect to communicate easily
anywhere and at anytime,” said Ashish (Ash) Bhardwaj,
Aricent’s chief executive officer. “These
competing forces prompted all segments of the communications
ecosystem to demand a software specialist with superior
skills, speed and scale. Aricent is that communications
software pure-play.”
“One of Aricent’s clear differentiators
is the quality of its people,” said Michael E.
Marks, a member of KKR and chairman of Aricent’s
board of directors. “Developing software that
ranges from complex applications on end-user devices
to management of the network core requires an outstanding
organization that hires only the best and brightest.
Aricent has long been recognized as a great place to
work, where the top talent comes to solve the most difficult
software problems faced by the entire communications
industry.”
Aricent has over 6,700 employees in 25 offices throughout
13 countries. Aricent will be led by Bhardwaj and a
management team that includes Duncan Robertson, chief
financial officer; Manoranjan Mohapatra, president and
chief operating officer; Doreen Lorenzo, president and
chief operating officer of frog design; and Sanjay Dhawan,
executive vice president and chief strategy officer.
“Aricent is a unique company in an enviable position,”
said Michael Moritz, a partner at Sequoia Capital and
an Aricent board member. “The communications industry
is reaching a new stage where long-time technology leaders
are looking to shorten time-to-market and maximize efficiency
by augmenting their software R&D organizations.
Aricent has capitalized on the changing dynamics of
the market, and I expect its impressive growth to accelerate
in the coming years.”
About Aricent
With corporate offices in Palo Alto, California, Aricent
is a full-service, full-spectrum communications software
company. Aricent offers software services and products
that enable the world’s leading communications
equipment manufacturers, device manufacturers and service
providers to improve time-to-revenue and maximize efficiency.
Owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Sequoia
Capital and Flextronics International Ltd., Aricent
has more than 350 clients worldwide, including Airtel,
Alcatel, Cisco Systems, Ericsson, Inmarsat, Juniper,
Lucent, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson,
Texas Instruments, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone. For more
information, visit aricent.com.
About KKR
KKR is one of the world’s oldest and most experienced
private equity firms specializing in management buyouts,
with offices in New York, Menlo Park, California, London,
Paris, Hong Kong and Tokyo. In recent years KKR has
participated in several of the largest private equity
technology investments in history, including SunGard
Data Systems, NXP Semiconductors and Avago Technologies.
Other KKR technology industry investments include: Amphenol,
RELTEC, Wincor Nixdorf, Tenovis and Zhone Technologies.
Over the past thirty years, KKR has invested in more
than 145 transactions with a total value of US$230 billion.
For more information, please visit www.kkr.com.
About Sequoia Capital
Since 1972, Sequoia Capital has provided early and growth
stage capital to founders and executives who have turned
ideas into companies of enduring value. As the "Entrepreneurs
Behind the Entrepreneurs", Sequoia Capital's Partners
have worked with accomplished innovators and operators
who have built companies such as Apple Computer, Cisco
Systems, Flextronics, Google, Informix, Linear Technology,
LSI Logic, Microchip, NetScaler, NetScreen, Network
Appliance, nVidia, Oracle, PayPal, Yahoo! and YouTube.
To learn more about Sequoia Capital visit www.sequoiacap.com.
Aricent is a trademark of Aricent, Inc. in the United
States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and
names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective
companies.
Contacts:
Jashojit “Jojo” Roy
Aricent
Tel: +1 650 391 1605
Laura Borgstede
Calysto Communications
Lborgstede@calysto.com
Tel: +1 404 266 2060
Nicola Garvin
AxiCom
Tel: +44 (0)208 392 4067
Mob: +44 (0)7725 761 449
Email: nicola.garvin@axicom.com
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