07.12.2007 11:48:00
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Macrovision Agrees to Acquire Gemstar-TV Guide
Macrovision Corporation (NASDAQ:MVSN) and Gemstar-TV Guide
International, Inc. (NASDAQ:GMST) today announced the two companies have
signed a definitive agreement for Macrovision to acquire Gemstar-TV
Guide in a cash and stock transaction. The aggregate value of the
transaction to Gemstar-TV Guide stockholders, based on the closing price
for the Macrovision stock on December 6, 2007, is approximately $2.8
billion.
Under the terms of the agreement, each share of Gemstar-TV Guide will be
converted into the right to receive, at the election of each individual
stockholder, subject to proration as detailed in the agreement, $6.35 in
cash or 0.2548 of a share of common stock, in a new holding company that
will own both Gemstar-TV Guide and Macrovision. The per share value of
the transaction to Gemstar-TV Guide stockholders, based on the closing
price of MVSN stock on December 6, 2007, represents a 29 percent premium
to the 10 day average closing price of Gemstar TV Guide’s
common stock prior to its review of strategic alternatives announced on
July 9, 2007. Macrovision stockholders will continue to own one share in
the new company for each share of Macrovision common stock owned as of
the closing. The aggregate cash consideration to Gemstar-TV Guide
stockholders will not exceed approximately $1.55 billion. Upon
completion of the transaction, the Macrovision stockholders will own
approximately 53% of the combined company, and the former Gemstar-TV
Guide stockholders will own approximately 47%. The transaction has been
unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is
currently expected to close by early second quarter 2008, subject to
customary closing conditions.
Macrovision is a global leader in protection, enablement and
distribution solutions that empower consumers to discover, acquire,
manage and enjoy digital content. Gemstar-TV Guide is a global leader in
video and entertainment guidance with products and services that deliver
rich data and information to consumers over multiple media platforms.
The combined company will be a leading enabler of the digital home
entertainment experience and well-positioned to capture emerging
opportunities across this exciting landscape.
Combining Macrovision’s and Gemstar-TV Guide’s
solution portfolios will enable extensive libraries of commercial and
personal protected content to be accessible on numerous devices through
simple and intuitive guides. For example, consumers will be able to pull
up a guide on their TV and receive personalized content and information
regarding their favorite TV shows, read movie reviews before purchasing
or renting a film, view personal photos, or tap into their music library.
Today that simple experience is prevented by interoperability barriers
between devices and services. Macrovision’s
and Gemstar-TV Guide’s strategic objectives
have been to build and integrate open technology, content protection and
distribution offerings that enable the delivery of digital media to
consumers across multiple platforms and channels.
"Users today are demanding an open, easy to
use and integrated set of capabilities that deliver on the promise of
the digital home. This presents challenges to the content providers,
distribution channels and device manufacturers as they struggle to
quickly bring such offerings to market while preserving their unique
value propositions,” commented Fred Amoroso,
CEO and President of Macrovision Corporation. "We
are now in a position to accelerate our vision by providing an enhanced
combination of capabilities in support of the entire value chain, which
is designed to deliver a differentiated solution for consumers.” "This is a terrific transaction for our
stockholders, giving them compelling value and a chance to participate
in the opportunity to join forces with Macrovision to maximize value for
all of our constituencies,” said Rich
Battista, CEO of Gemstar-TV Guide. "We
believe that the combined entity, with its complementary technologies,
customers and global presence has the potential to redefine the consumer
entertainment experience and drive significant additional stockholder
value.”
The combination of Macrovision’s and
Gemstar-TV Guide’s assets is intended to
result in the integration of key ingredients needed to deliver on the
digital home of the future, today. These include:
Guidance Technology –
leading interactive program guide (IPG) technologies, intellectual
property and an extensive customer base including: consumer
electronics manufacturers, cable, satellite and IPTV operators, and
mobile and online service providers.
Connected Services –
tools and infrastructure for the delivery of content and related
services directly to end users for the improvement of a home media
environment both through enhancing the experience and providing
content delivery. Current examples include MyTVGuide services (e.g.,
personalization, recommendations, ad serving, click stream analysis,
notifications) and device registration. Future examples may include:
video delivery service, Internet radio and music services.
Data Services - a broad set of
metadata describing television shows, music, movies, and video games,
including editorial content, relationships/cross references (e.g.,
this song was in that movie, this singer also sang for that group).
Data services also encompass images, clips, and samples.
Connected Platform –
technologies embedded into devices that enable interoperability with
other media-aware devices, resulting in an open environment for secure
distribution of digital media and content services, which support key
open standards such as DLNA and UPnP.
Content Protection –
key technology and intellectual property for protecting analog and
digital standard and high-definition video content.
Consumer Sites –
consumer facing websites providing users detailed and updated
information on television, music, movie and games available.
Upon the close of this transaction, Fred Amoroso will be the President
and Chief Executive Officer and James Budge, the Chief Financial Officer
of Macrovision, will serve as Chief Financial Officer of the combined
company. The new Board of Directors will be comprised of four members to
be designated by Macrovision, and three members to be designated by
Gemstar-TV Guide. Additionally, upon the close of this transaction,
Gemstar-TV Guide CEO Rich Battista and CFO Bedi Singh will be leaving
the organization.
The transaction requires, among other customary closing conditions,
approval by two-thirds of the outstanding shares of Gemstar-TV Guide
common stock, and a majority of the shares of Macrovision common stock
voting at the special meetings to be held in connection with the
transaction. News Corporation, which owns approximately 41% of the
Gemstar-TV Guide common stock, has agreed to vote in favor of the
transaction at the meeting of Gemstar-TV Guide stockholders to be held
in connection with the proposed transaction, subject to the terms of a
voting agreement.
This agreement concludes an extensive review by Gemstar-TV Guide of its
strategic alternatives, including a broad solicitation of interest in
the acquisition of Gemstar-TV Guide. Following this comprehensive
process, Gemstar-TV Guide’s board of
directors unanimously approved this transaction as the most effective
alternative to maximize stockholder value.
JPMorgan served as financial advisor to Macrovision Corporation and UBS
Investment Bank as financial advisor to Gemstar-TV Guide International
on this transaction.
Investor call dial-in information
Both companies will hold a joint investor conference call on December 7,
2007, at 9:00 a.m. ET. Investors and analysts interested in
participating in the conference are welcome to call 800-219-6110 (or
international + 303-262-2140) and reference the Macrovision call.
The conference call can also be accessed via live Webcast at http://www.macrovision.com/
or http://www.earnings.com/
(or http://www.streetevents.com/
for subscribers) on December 7, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. ET. The on-demand
audio webcast of the conference call will be made available as soon as
practicable after the live Webcast ends.
Investors and analysts interested in listening to a recorded replay of
the conference are welcome to call 800-405-2236 (or international +
303-590-3000) and enter passcode 11104302#. Access to the replay will be
made available as soon as practicable after the live conference call
ends and will be available through Friday, December 14th,
2007.
About Macrovision
Macrovision provides a broad set of solutions that enable businesses to
protect, enhance and distribute their digital goods to consumers across
multiple channels. Macrovision solutions are deployed by companies in
the entertainment, consumer electronics, gaming, software, information
publishing and corporate IT markets to solve industry-specific
challenges and bring greater value to their customers. Macrovision holds
approximately 270 issued or pending United States patents and more than
1,200 issued or pending international patents, and continues to increase
its patent portfolio with new and innovative technologies in related
fields. Macrovision is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, U.S.A.
with other offices across the United States and around the world. More
information about Macrovision can be found at www.macrovision.com.
About Gemstar-TV Guide
Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. (NASDAQ:GMST) is a leading global
media, entertainment, and technology company that develops, licenses,
markets and distributes products and services that maximize the video
guidance and entertainment experience for consumers. The company's
businesses include: television, publishing, and new media properties;
interactive program guide services and products; and intellectual
property licensing.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking" statements as that term is
defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,
including, but not limited to, statements regarding the proposed
acquisition of Gemstar-TV Guide, the integration of its technologies
into Macrovision’s products and solutions
offerings, Macrovision’s plans for such
offerings and customer demand for such offerings. A number of factors
could cause Macrovision's and Gemstar-TV Guide’s
actual results to differ from anticipated results expressed in such
forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others,
satisfaction of closing conditions to the transaction, the Company’s
ability to successfully integrate the merged businesses and
technologies, and customer demand for the technologies and integrated
offerings. Such factors are further addressed in Macrovision's and
Gemstar-TV Guide’s respective Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2006, their respective
latest Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30,
2007 and other securities filings which are on file with the Securities
and Exchange Commission (available at www.sec.gov).
Neither company assumes any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements except as required by law.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
MACROVISION AND GEMSTAR-TV GUIDE STOCKHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE
JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS REGARDING THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION WHEN
IT BECOMES AVAILABLE BECAUSE IT WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT
THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. Stockholders may obtain a free copy of the
joint proxy statement/prospectus (when available), as well as other
documents filed by Macrovision and Gemstar with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s
Web site at http://www.sec.gov.
Stockholders may also obtain a free copy of the joint proxy
statement/prospectus and the filings with the SEC that will be
incorporated by reference in the joint proxy statement/prospectus
directly from Macrovision by directing a request to Macrovision Investor
Relations at 408-969-5475 and directly from Gemstar-TV Guide by
directing a request to Gemstar-TV Guide Investor Relations at
323-817-4600.
Each company’s directors and executive
officers and other persons may be deemed, under Securities and Exchange
Commission rules, to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in
connection with the proposed transaction. Information regarding
Macrovision’s directors and officers can be
found in its proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission on March 20, 2007 and information regarding Gemstar-TV Guide’s
directors and officers can be found in its proxy statement filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 10, 2007. Additional
information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation and a
description of their direct and indirect interests in the transaction,
by security holdings or otherwise, will be contained in the joint proxy
statement/prospectus and other relevant materials to be filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission when they become available.
©Macrovision 2007. Macrovision is a
registered trademark of Macrovision Corporation. Gemstar and TV Guide
are registered trademarks of Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. and/or
its subsidiaries. All other brands and product names and trademarks are
the registered property of their respective companies.
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