From the Datastorm Users forum;
Salt Lake City, UT, & Toronto, Ontario, Canada, July 8, 2008 MotoSAT, a leading provider of mobile and automated satellite antenna solutions, has agreed to be acquired by Balaton Group Inc., an international private equity firm based in Toronto, Canada, with significant experience in the satellite industry.
The acquisition is set to close in the fall of 2008. Financial terms have not been disclosed.
"We are enthusiastic about the MotoSAT business and feel that the company's technical leadership and showcase-manufacturing capabilities in the United States position the company well for expansion into global markets," said Robert Kubbernus, CEO of Balaton. "We also see great potential in the company's new, ruggedized commercial product line that should generate continued expansion into the Satellite News Gathering, Government, Military, Emergency Management, Commercial and Media sectors."
"MotoSAT has recently developed market-ready technology that uses inclined-orbit satellites, a solution that has the potential to radically lower the cost of ownership of satellite communications circuits," Kubbernus added. "With an appropriate investment of capital and resources, we see a significant growth opportunity in MotoSAT."
MotoSAT, based in Salt Lake City, was founded in 1984 as a manufacturer of automated satellite television antennas for the recreational vehicle market. In the years since, the company has become a leader in automated systems that locate satellite signals from vehicles and mobile units for television and broadband Internet access. Its customer base has expanded into government and military vehicles, the oil-and-gas market, and a variety of local government emergency command centers and medical applications.
MotoSAT's products, offered through a network of 250 dealers in North America and Europe, are manufactured in Salt Lake City at a 45,000 square-foot production facility. The company has about 110 employees, all based in Utah.
"This is the right time to put MotoSAT into the hands of a company like Balaton Group that has the resources and expertise to grow MotoSAT to an entirely new level of production and profitability," said Jim Pendleton, MotoSAT President and a majority shareholder. "After 24 years of successful business and product innovation, the MotoSAT story turns a page to a new chapter. With our strong current install base, dealer network and new product launches set for this fall, I can proudly turn the reins over to Balaton and consider my retirement options. I also look forward to spending the upcoming months working with Balaton to ensure a smooth transition."
About MotoSAT
MotoSAT is a leading provider of innovative mobile satellite antenna solutions. Founded in 1984, MotoSAT commercialized the first truly automated satellite television systems for the recreational vehicle industry. In 2001, MotoSAT became the first mobile satellite communications company to introduce a mobile consumer high-speed Internet dish solution. More recently, the company delivered the first satellite antenna that can simultaneously track up to five different satellites for DirecTV and was the first to manufacturer a skewable automated HDTV system for DirecTV, Dish Network, and Star Choice and Bell Express View of Canada. Today, MotoSAT is launching unprecedented innovation by combining powerful, self-pointing, auto-acquire satellite antenna technology with unsurpassed ease of use.
MotoSAT, a vertically integrated company, manufactures and assembles all of its products in the United States. With an install base of over 25,000 and a strong network of 250 dealers, MotoSAT's automated satellite antenna solutions are offered in the consumer, military, fire & rescue, emergency management, oil & gas, medical, media (SNG) and field production markets.
www.MotoSAT.com
About Balaton Group Inc.
Balaton Group Inc. is a private equity firm that concentrates its efforts in the small-cap and micro-cap markets. While open to opportunities wherever they can be found, Balaton focuses on sectors in which it has demonstrated expertise such as telecommunications, real estate, technology and financial services.
Balaton's team of professionals, including its senior advisors, provides the unsurpassed expertise needed to create exceptional returns for its investors.
As a corporate architect, Balaton specializes in providing its portfolio companies with the financial and operational support to enable them to expand profitably. The companies Balaton acquires all share a common feature: they have extraordinary growth prospects in their industry or markets.
www.BalatonGroupInc.com"
A post from Jim Pendleton, president of MotoSAT.
"This is very good news for MotoSAT. They will be an absentee owner and oversee the operation only. There will be no immediate changes in personal or basic operations. We do expect some procedure changes but not any you would notice except that operations will start to run more smoothly and we will have enough financial help to continue our fast growth. The have committed to continue to be strong in both the consumer and commercial sides of the business with more emphasis on commercial. All at MotoSAT are very excited and expect this to be a very good endeavor. This is by far the best situation for MotoSAT that we have looked at over the past few year. The timing is perfect for our growth."
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