Sonic has bought Roxio /Toast/...

[SERBIAN]

http://www.sonic.com/

Sonic Solutions to Acquire Roxio's Consumer Software Division for $80 Million


Novato and Santa Clara, California (August 9, 2004) - Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC) and Roxio (NASDAQ: ROXI) today announced a definitive agreement for Sonic to acquire the consumer software division of Roxio for a total purchase price of $80 million. Under the terms of the transaction, Roxio will receive $70 million in cash and shares of Sonic common stock valued at $10 million.


Sonic believes the acquisition will provide Sonic with a well-recognized set of consumer software brands; access to long-standing distribution channels; strong product marketing expertise; and key relationships with top-tier retail outlets. Roxio plans to focus its business on the digital music market and will change its corporate name to Napster and trade under the ticker "NAPS" on NASDAQ, assuming the successful completion of this transaction.


"This combination will create an extremely strong provider of digital media creation software," said Bob Doris, president and chief executive officer of Sonic. "We believe the acquisition of Roxio's consumer software division increases our reach with a proven brand; a tremendous sales and support platform; and a strong retail channel with national retailers such as Best Buy, CompUSA and Fry's Electronics. We'll be able to augment our Sonic team with the highly professional and experienced members of the Roxio software organization resulting in a truly world class organization in terms of technology development, major OEM delivery, and retail distribution. With the growth that we will unlock in the Roxio product line, and the many ways in which the two organizations complement each other, we will be able to drive shareholder value through strong revenue growth and profitability."


"With the successful completion of the transaction, Napster will emerge as a well-positioned pure-play in the fast-growing digital music sector with a substantially enhanced balance sheet that will support our growth plans," said Chris Gorog, Roxio's chairman and chief executive officer.


Under the terms of the deal, Sonic will purchase essentially the entire Roxio software operation including Roxio's CD and DVD recording, authoring, photo and video editing application products including Easy Media Creator, PhotoSuite, VideoWave, Easy DVD Copy and Toast. Sonic expects to retain most of the current employees of the Roxio organization. Sonic intends to continue the Roxio brands, and current distribution and OEM relationships.


Completion of the acquisition, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of calendar year 2004, is subject to the approval of Roxio stockholders, expiration or termination of the applicable Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting periods, and other regulatory and customary conditions.


Conference Call
Sonic will hold a conference call to discuss details of the acquisition on Monday, August 9, 2004 at 1:30 pm PT/ 4:30 pm ET. Investors are invited to listen by dialing (913) 981-5592 or via webcast on the investor section of the Sonic Web site at www.sonic.com/investor. A replay of the call will also be available by dialing (719) 457-0820 with passcode 927034 and via Webcast at www.sonic.com/webcast.


About Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC)
Based in Marin County, California, Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC) (http://www.sonic.com/) is the world's leading supplier of DVD creation software for professional, industrial and consumer applications. The majority of major film releases on DVD have been produced on Sonic's professional DVD authoring systems in studios around the world. Sonic's MyDVD® and DVDit® are the most widely used DVD creation applications by consumers and video enthusiasts and are the solutions of choice among the key PC and after-market drive suppliers. Sonic's RecordNow™ is a leading solution for audio and data mastering. InterActual, a subsidiary of Sonic Solutions, is the leading provider of software and services that enable cutting-edge DVD interactivity in computers and next-generation home entertainment platforms. Sonic's AuthorScript®, the DVD and CD formatting and burning engine that underlies Sonic's applications, is the most widely deployed DVD software engine and has been licensed by Adobe, Microsoft, Sony and many others.


Sonic, the Sonic logo, Sonic Solutions, AuthorScript, AutoDVD, Backup MyPC, CinePlayer, DVD Fusion, DVDit, DVD Producer, Edit-on-DVD, HyperMux DL, InterActual, MyDVD, NoNOISE, OpenDVD, PrePlay, RecordNow, ReelDVD, Scenarist, Simple Backup, Sonic DVD Creator, Sonic JumpSafe, Sonic PrimeTime, and Sonic SmartBalance, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sonic Solutions in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other company or product names are trademarks of their respective owners and, in some cases, are used by Sonic under license. Specifications, pricing and delivery schedules are subject to change without notice.


About Roxio
Roxio, Inc. provides the best selling digital media software in the world and owns Napster, the world's most recognized brand in online music. Roxio makes award-winning software products for CD/DVD burning, photo editing and video editing. Roxio's family of products includes category-leading products Roxio Easy Media Creator, Easy CD & DVD Creator, Digital Media Suite®, Easy CD Creator® (Windows) and Toast® (Macintosh) for CD/DVD burning, PhotoSuite for digital photography, and VideoWave for digital video. Roxio's current installed base is in excess of 100 million users. Roxio distributes its products globally through strategic partnerships with major hardware manufacturers, in stores with the leading worldwide retailers, through Internet partnerships and also sells its products direct at www.roxio.com.


Copyright © 2004 Roxio, Inc. All rights reserved . Roxio, the Roxio tagline, Roxio Easy Media Creator, Easy CD & DVD Creator, Digital Media Suite, Easy CD Creator, PhotoSuite, VideoWave, Toast, and Napster are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Roxio, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks used are owned by their respective owners.


The above paragraphs of this press release may contain forward looking statements that are based upon current expectations. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward looking statements as a result of various risks and uncertainties including, among others, the possibility that the proposed acquisition will not close, the reaction of customers of Sonic and Roxio to the acquisition, Sonic's ability to integrate Roxio's consumer software business and technology with its own and other factors, including those discussed in the Company's annual and quarterly reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release should be read in conjunction with the Company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Registration Statement on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which contain a more detailed discussion of the Company's business including risks and uncertainties that may affect future results. The Company does not undertake to update any forward looking statements.

[deadsierra]

I'm not liking the sound of this.

[terryj]

I agree with this....Sonic has no current stake in the Mac Market,
and every developer from the PC world (including M$) that has
bought up a Mac company, has killed all development for
Mac software...M$ bought Bungie, and we lost potential for tons of
games...Corel bought Poser and Painter and they went south...

If Sonic was smart, they'd try and sell it to Apple.
Just think...the next version of Toast rolled into iLife..
iToast!

[AntnyMD]

If Napster eats our beloved Toast, Apple will just fill in the gap by expanding the capabilities of disc burning already a part of OSX Finder.

[Frobozz]

While we're totally guessing about Toast's future, I'll choose the glass half full point of view. Imagine this company with its professional DVD experience supporting a new version of Toast that sells for maybe half the price of DVDSP and offers some professional as well as consumer DVD authoring features. Dual-layer DVD burning is going to move rapidly forward yet Apple has no dual-layer Superdrives as yet. Just as Apple was slow to provide any support for DVD+R media I expect iDVD to remain a single-layer-only authoring application for some time. This gives Toast a big head start.

Toast 6 covers the consumer-level needs pretty well. Now Mac users need a more professional software package that doesn't cost $499. If you write to Sonic Solutions tell them about the new features you want in Toast 7. Don't presume they plan to pull the plug on supporting Macs. Let's cheer them on (it's in our best interest).

[milatchi]

I smell burnt Toast

[WiseWeasel]

There's an interesting blurb from the president of Sonic Solutions promising to continue work on Toast. Here's the quote:

Sonic Solutions President Robert J. Doris clarified his company's position on the future of Toast in a conference call with investors and analysts shortly after the acquisition announcement was made.


"Of course we are going to continue," he said. "Toast is a very long-standing, very well-regarded application on the Mac."


Doris indicated that his company's general posture regarding Macintosh software is to try not to compete directly with Apple in those areas where they create software of their own. "But Toast, if you look to the product, it's really quite a bit beyond that," said Doris. "It's a real professional mastering product."


Doris concluded that Sonic has every intention of "continuing and elaborating" Toast over time.

Source Article

[FCPguy]

Just in case you guys hadn't noticed, I figured I'd put this out there. If you were looking for something for a good price.

Apple's line of Final Cut, DVDSP3, and Motion can all be had at a student price of 499.99

[thoughton]

Update - the deal was finalised today:

http://www.macminute.com/2004/12/20/sonic-roxio-napster/

[MerlinMacuser]

IIRC Sonic is also working with Tivo on the TivoToGo project which will allow material recorded on Tivo to be exported to PC (and Macs) for burning on a DVD.

[BJ_M]

sonic has a history of buying companies and ruining the product or ending real developement other than updates ..

witness : prassi dvd, dvd producer, scenarist and other sonic products ..

Roxio also has picked up a number of products along the way ... and in the pc world is not well regarded at all ..

since they have competing products on a number of fronts - something going to get cut ....


On the other hand -- apple is famous for buying companies and ruining them for the PC world , like

spruce , rayz , shake, Logic (emagic) and others ..

then again it seems to be a industry trend with Steinberg purchased by Pinnacle (as one example) and we all know how bugged Nuendo is and not getting fixed ...