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San
Francisco, CA/Taipei, Taiwan, January 23, 2003 -
Walden International is pleased to announce the successful
initial public offering of one of its portfolio companies,
Altek Corporation ("Altek"). Altek shares began trading
on December 24, 2002 on the Main Board of the Taiwan
Stock Exchange. A total of 11.05 million common shares
were offered at NT$76 per share to the public and underwriters,
raising approximately NT$840 million (US$24 million)
for existing shareholders. SinoPac Securities Ltd. Corp.
underwrote the public offering. Altek was established
in 1996 to focus on the development, manufacturing and
marketing of digital still cameras ("DSC"). The company
is headquartered in the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial
Park, Taiwan with a research and development center
in California, U.S. and a plant located in Kunxan, China.
Currently it has over 200 employees.
"Despite
the current difficult investment climate, this successful
IPO demonstrates that there are still technology investment
opportunities available," said Tzu-Hwa Hsu, managing director
of Walden International's Taiwan operations. Walden was
one of the venture capital pioneers in Taiwan. We belive
that Taiwan will continue playing key roles in various consumer
electronics fields such as DSC, PDS, mobile handset, wireless
LAN and LCD TV. This particular investment is proving the
strategic value of identifying a high-potential tech-consumer
company and nurturing it through to commercial operability."
For
the ten-month period ended October 31, 2002, Altek achieved
an estimated net profit before tax of NT$475 million (US$14
million) on a turnover of NT$4.8 billion (US$139 million).
In fiscal year 2001, the Company recorded a net profit before
tax of NT$414 million (US$12 million) on a turnover of NT$3.8
billion (US$110 million). For the ten-month period ended
October 31, 2002, Altek estimated its total shipment volume
of DSC (mainly 2.3M- and 3.0M-pixel models) at 1.2 million
units, 71% of its annual target of 1.7 million units, which
willc apture approxiamtely 8% of global market share. Altek
was confident in achieving its shipment project target for
the year. In addition to its major customers, Hewlett-Packard
and Eastman Kodak, the company has entered into a business
agreement with Olympus, a major Japanese DSC company, and
targets to start shipment in the first quarter of 2003.
Walden
International has been founding investor since Altek's inception
in December 1996. At present, Walden International holds
approximately 3.43 million shares in Altek, approximately
2.97% of the company's outstanding shares.
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