IQ Biometrix Acquires Network Storage Solutions

IQ Biometrix has tendered a letter of intent for the acquisition of Network Storage Solutions (NSS), a developer and supplier of network storage solutions. NSS is based in Chantilly Virginia, just outside of the Washington DC Beltway. The transaction, which is expected to close this quarter, is subject to approval by regulatory agencies, IQ Biometrix shareholders, and other closing conditions. For accounting purposes, the acquisition is intended to be treated as a pooling of interests.

“The acquisition will expand the company’s geographic presence and leverage its technology into new markets”, comments Bill Scigliano, Chariman and CEO of Biometrix, “This acquisition combines the strength of the Network Storage Solutions brand, the breadth of our product line and our global reach with NSS’s technical excellence, distribution capability and time-to-market.”

“The acquisition of NSS provides several key elements to help IQ Biometrix achieve continued growth and succeed as a major provider of facial composite, recognition and tracking systems,” said Scigliano. “First, NSS is a fast-growing company with a high-quality customer base of leading global companies and several government agencies, which meets our goal of achieving geographic diversity. Second, they offers a wide range of competitive products with state-of-the-art full functioned technology that meets the needs of our customer’s storage requirements. The NSS software, SPANStor, is the foundation to support Storage Resource Management (SRM) and addition emerging requirements for the storage marketplace.”

“As the two companies combine technologies, we will provide the law enforcement and security industries with increased digital storage capabilities that will further enhance IQ Biometix’s offering. Customers will have the ability to identify, communicate, store and distribute information, seamlessly,” said Tom Makmann, President and CEO, Network Storage Solutions. “The current market of network storage, is estimated at over $12B with the mid-range considered the largest growth sector. The NSS product offerings, with our SPANStor software as the foundation, are positioned for increased growth based on its functionality, flexibility, and performance. The technology supports multiple industry requirements in addition to the IT sector such as the security market of IQ Biometrix.,” concluded Makmann.

“This acquisition is expected to deliver several long-term benefits, continued growth in diversified markets, and represent outstanding sharholder value for the stakeholders of IQ Biometrix. The transaction is also expected to be accretive in fiscal 2003,” said Scigliano. “We expect to enter into other agreements in the near term that will further expand our NAS business with the same type of high returns for the company and its shareholders. Makmann added”