North Sioux City, South Dakota, March 27 1997 - Gateway 2000 Inc. (Nasdaq: Gate) today announced that the company has made an offer to aquire the assets of AMIGA Technologies including all patents, trademaks and trade names. The Company is a subsidary of ESCOM AG, a German-based computer company that went into bankrupty in July of 1996. Amiga led the industry in combining computer graphics, animation, and film sequences with stereo sound known today as multimedia.
The offer has been accepted by the court-appointed Administrator in Bankruptcy in Germany acting on behalf of AMIGA. The agreement is subject to regulatory approval.
"This acquisition is good news for Gateway and customers of AMIGA," said Rick Snyder, president and COO of Gateway 2000. "It will strengthen our intellectual property position and invigorate a company that has been a pioneer in multimedia solutions and operating systems technology."
AMIGA Technologies will be renamed AMIGA International. The company will operate as a separate business unit and will retain its current president, Petro Tyschtschenko, who will work to develop new products for the AMIGA market.
"Gateway 2000 will give us new life and energy for the future," said Tyschtschenko.
About Gateway 2000
Gateway 2000, Inc., a Fortune 500 company founded in 1985, is a global leader in the direct marketing of PCs. The company, headquartered in North Sioux City, South Dakota, has manufacturing facilities in the United States, Ireland and Malaysia, and employs over 9,700 people worldwide. Gateway 2000 products and services consistently win top awards from leading industry publications. In 1996, the company shipped 1.9 million systems and reported revenues of $5 billion and net income of $250 million.
About AMIGA Since the introduction of the AMIGA A1000 in 1985, AMIGA has represented the embodiment of the efficient use of memory and hard drive capacity, while pioneering industry developments in multimedia, 32-bit multitasking and autoconfiguration.
For additional information, please e-mail Steve Johns, Director of Corporate Development for Gateway 2000 at johnsste@gw2k.com.
MEDIA CONTACT: Angela Peacock, Corporate Communications, (605) 232-1686.