Plasmon to acquire Philips LMI

Plasmon Plc, parent company of Minneapolis-based storage vendor Plasmon IDE, has agreed to acquired Philips LMS for an undisclosed amount. Philips, similar in size to Plasmon IDE, will be reorganized as Plasmon LMS. The combined company expects to report 1999 revenues of well over $100 million.

With this deal Plasmon gains access to Philips' robotics engineering, Phase Change media development and integration software expertise. More importantly, the expansion of its optical and tape drive technology gives Plasmon more control over future product direction, according to Plasmon Plc CEO Nigel Street. "This in turn will create new opportunities for our library, media and software businesses."

Philips, which saw its core large-format WORM market shrink considerably with the recent departure of Kodak and Sony, benefits from Plasmon's market presence and deep pockets.

"Both Plasmon and Philips LMS operate in an industry with significant growth prospects. The combined group... will be poised to exploit this growth potential," said Street