Dolby Laboratories Inc. has announced a cash takeover offer for LakeTechnology Limited for approximately Aus$17.6 million. Dolby alreadyowns 14.99% of Lake.
Chairman of Lake, Russel Ingersoll, said, “Dolby and Lake have longhad a close commercial relationship. Lake welcomes Dolby’s interest inLake, evidenced by its previous investments in the company and now thisoffer from Dolby.”
Lake’s Board will appoint an independent expert to provide anopinion as to whether the offer is fair and reasonable. If the expertdetermines that the offer is fair and reasonable, the Board intends torecommend the Dolby offer in the absence of a higher offer. Lake hasappointed Clayton Utz as its legal advisor. Dolby has appointedMacquarie Bank Limited as its exclusive financial advisor and MallesonsStephen Jaques as its legal advisor.
If the Board recommends the offer, it intends to support anaccelerated timetable for the offer and will agree to the jointdispatch of a bidder’s and target’s statement to shareholders. TheBoard recommends that shareholders do not take action until theyreceive a target’s statement from Lake.
Further details of the offer can be found at www.dolby.com. VisitLake Technologies online at www.lake.com.
In other Dolby news, the company has acquired Cineaa, a start-upcontent-protection and anti-piracy technology company based inVirginia. Cinea will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of DolbyLaboratories, with Cinea personnel and offices remaining in Virginia.Cinea CEO and founder Robert Schumann will become head of the new Dolbysubsidiary, reporting to Tim Partridge, VP of the the Professionaldivision at Dolby Laboratories.
“Content is increasingly being delivered digitally, and unauthorizeduse of digital content can have serious consequences for the contentowner. Content protection has thus become an ever more importantelement in enabling the delivery of high-quality entertainment,” saidPartridge. “Cinea has proven its expertise in this important area, andis an ideal complement to Dolby’s audio and image expertise.
“Our studio customers have made it clear that piracy is the mostimportant problem they face today,” Partridge continued. “Dolby has along history of meeting the needs of the film industry throughtechnical innovations such as stereo, surround sound and digital audio.Content protection is another area where innovative and comprehensivesolutions are clearly needed.”
“Cinea’s mission is to provide world-class anti-piracy tools andservices to our studio customers,” said Schumann. “Dolby’s unsurpassedreputation for quality and customer service—and proven ability tobring practical solutions to market—will allow Cinea to expandthe scope of our offerings and provide our customers with qualitysolutions worldwide.”
