May 15, 2007 HumanWare Shareholders Accept Proposal; Staff and Shareholders Celebrate Achievements Christchurch, New Zealand - HumanWare shareholders today voted to accept an offer from Jolimont Capital, funded by private equity from Jolimont, debt financing from ANZ National Bank and personal investments from HumanWare senior managers. The accepted offer is for $10.80 a share. Advisors Deloitte had concluded the fair value to shareholders was in the range $9.80 to $12.80 a share. HumanWare has around 3.3 million shares on issue. HumanWare CEO Dr Richard Mander expressed his delight at the result of the vote. "This marks an exciting next chapter in the growth of HumanWare, and we look forward to delivering on our strategy. It's also a wonderful opportunity, while staff and shareholders are gathered, to take stock of HumanWare's achievements so far and to celebrate". Charles Gillies, Managing Partner, Jolimont Capital echoed this sentiment. "We are looking forward to working with HumanWare to build on their achievements and achieve their vision," said Gillies. After the vote, staff and shareholders joined in a celebration of HumanWare's achievements. A large collage was unveiled to celebrate the journey of HumanWare from 1973 to 2005 under the leadership of the visionary Dr Russell Smith, who was tragically killed, along with his wife Marion D'Eve, in a light plane accident in 2005. The display was unveiled by Shirley Farrar, former executive assistant to Dr Smith and then to Dr Mander, who recently retired from HumanWare after 25 years. The display charts Dr Russell Smith's first interest in assistive technologies while completing his Ph.D. in Sonar while at the University of Canterbury in 1973. At this time he developed the Binaural Sensory Aid, a sophisticated sonar system build into spectacles, which made it possible for blind users to sense and interpret their environment using sound. HumanWare's ground breaking research and developments continued with products such as hand held sensors, text scanners, reading systems, word processors with speech synthesis and the BrailleNote notetaker for the blind with GPS. Dr Smith's contribution to the industry was highlighted in 2003 when he was made an honorary fellow of the Institute of Professional Engineers. In 2004 he was awarded a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to the visually impaired. Dr Smith's accomplishments laid the groundwork for the successful investment being announced today. Earlier this year, HumanWare created the Russell Smith and Marian D'Eve Chair in Assistive Technology at the University of Canterbury to commemorate the distinguished couple. ~ HumanWare makes a range of blindness, low vision, digital talking books, and GPS products that improve the lives of blind, low vision, and learning disabled people. The company is headquartered in Christchurch, New Zealand under the leadership of CEO Dr Richard Mander. The company's low vision and blindness products are designed and manufactured in the Christchurch Product Development Centre, which also serves as the company headquarters. Digital Talking Book and GPS products are designed and manufactured in a Product Development Centre in Montreal, Canada. The company has distribution and sales teams in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, USA, United Kingdom, Sweden, and The Netherlands, and dealers in more than thirty countries. Sales are over $NZ 70m and 98% of all products are exported. ~ For further information please contact: Dr Richard Mander CEO HumanWare Ltd 11 Mary Muller Drive Christchurch New Zealand Ph: +64 3 940-2210 http://www.humanware.com Matthew Janusauskas Technical Support and Training Manager HumanWare USA Inc. 656 N Kennedy Drive Kankakee IL 60901 Phone: 800-722-3393 Ext. 204 Fax: 815-939-3194 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Internet: http://www.humanware.com ___ Replies to this message will go directly to the sender. If your reply would be useful to the list, please send a copy to the list as well. To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
