DiBcom obtains funds from two major Japanese investors.

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007
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NIF SMBC and NTT Finance Co-invest in the Mobile TV World Leader

PARIS — DiBcom, a semiconductor company and undisputed world leader of Mobile TV solutions, is pleased to announce that NIF SMBC Ventures and NTT Finance, two strategic Japanese companies have recently joined DiBcom’s select group of investors.

NIF SMBC Ventures, leader of the round, is the largest private equity firm in Japan and a subsidiary of one of the major Japanese securities company and bank: Daiwa Securities Group, Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. NTT Finance Corp., the investment arm and a strategic business development partner of NTT Group Companies, recognised as the number one telecom operator in Japan, has co-invested with NIF SMBC.

This financial commitment attests to the true success of Mobile TV in Japan (installed base of over 20 million units) and the increasing appetite of Japanese investors to provide funding in this field, as Mobile TV is slated to become a major success, in many countries throughout the world.

Through this investment, NTT Finance acknowledges DiBcom’s market leading position as a supplier of DVB-H solutions and by the same token the massive adoption of DVB-H by a large number of countries in Europe, South-East Asia, Africa and Latin America.

For DiBcom, being recognised by Japanese investors as the leading provider of Mobile TV solutions comes as a very significant achievement. DiBcom has recently introduced the most integrated and cost-effective solution for Mobile TV reception targeted at Japan’s automotive market. Moreover, this solution is compatible with Japan’s ISDB-T standard, and offers a high level of performance as it leverages DiBcom’s advanced technologies, already very well proven on the European automotive market. The solution has already been selected by major automotive OEM equipment manufacturers for cars exported to Japan.

Yannick Lévy, DiBcom’s CEO, said, “DiBcom and its current investors are very happy to welcome the contribution of two of Japan’s leading venture capital firms. We are determined to fully assume our reputation as the market leader by deploying our proven technology on the largest Mobile TV market on the planet today – Japan”.

The complete transaction was managed by Clipperton Finance, a European Corporate Finance boutique dedicated to the High tech & Media sectors. For its third operation managed for DiBcom, Clipperton Finance focused specifically on identifying and syndicating two tier-one Japanese investors, which would provide DiBcom with both financial and industrial value added on the Japanese market. “I am glad Clipperton’s team was able to help DiBcom attract NIF SMBC and NTT Finance as new shareholders, as these two investors could be instrumental in the company’s international development and specifically for the Japanese market”, said Nicolas von Bülow, Partner at Clipperton Finance.