- 9 March 2005 -

Optelecom buys NKF Electronics

Optelecom Inc today has acquired of NKF Electronics BV a wholly owned subsidiary of Draka Holding NV establishing Optelecom as a global producer of fiber optic-based communications solutions for video surveillance, traffic monitoring, and business video systems.

The purchase price for the acquisition is E20m ($26.4m), which consisted of a cash payment of E11m and a 6% subordinated note issued by Optelecom to Draka Holding N.V. in the principal amount of E9m ($11.9m) maturing in 2010.

Edmund Ludwig, Optelecom's president and CEO said "We join two strong product lines and two sales units with little geographic overlap, and bring to market industry - leading, advanced communication solutions for mission
critical video surveillance, intelligent transportation, and business video systems. By combining R&D, service and other resources, we believe we can deliver excellent quality products to our customers at great values."

The Optelecom-NKF combination creates a worldwide company of 150 people with increased financial resources to support global government and commercial end-users.

"We believe our customers and the industry will benefit from the combination for several reasons," added Tom Overwijn, MD of NKF. "First, we believe it allows two customer-driven organisations, each with creative, innovative cultures to be more responsive on a global basis; second, by leveraging our R&D efforts, we believe we can provide leading-edge technology where it is needed most.

"And third, we believe our enhanced ability to customise solutions, will give our customers a more comprehensive way to address their needs."