BOSTON, MA. January 12, 1999.
Inso Corporation today announced that it has acquired AIS Software S.A. (AIS Software) from Berger-Levrault S.A., a leading French publisher, for approximately $3.0 million in cash. AIS Software, based in Paris, is the developer of Balise, a premier SGML and XML transformation tool and scripting language, as well as Dual Prism, a Web-based XML and SGML publishing system. With more than eight years of experience with data conversion and distribution, and over 100 customers, AIS Software will add significant technical expertise and a strong installed base to Inso's Electronic Publishing Solutions business and Inso's Enterprise Information Platform. The acquisition will be accounted for as a purchase.
The acquisition of AIS Software will further enhance Inso's position as the leader in information delivery applications for the Web and will also significantly extend Inso's data transformation and data rescue offerings. The addition of AIS Software's strong product development staff, led by Dr. Christophe Lecluse, strengthens Inso's industry leading technology team. The transaction also reinforces the relationship between Inso and Berger-Levrault/AIS, one of the premier providers of SGML, XML, and Web integration services.
"Inso is very enthusiastic about the combination of AIS Software and Inso," said Graham Marshall, Vice President and General Manager, Inso Electronic Publishing Solutions. "We welcome AIS Software to the Inso family. Through many years of close cooperation with AIS Software and Berger-Levrault/AIS, Inso has developed a great respect for the talents of its technical team. We believe that Dual Prism and Balise, in combination with our DynaBase and DynaText products, will give our customers a range of features and functionality unmatched in the industry. Through our ongoing relationship with Berger-Levrault/AIS, we can also significantly expand the solution development and support available to customers."
"We are very pleased to combine our unique products and development team with Inso's strong technical foundation and market leadership," said Dr. Christophe Lecluse, General Manager of AIS Software. ``AIS Software has always concentrated on providing the highest quality software products, which made a combination with Inso a natural choice. The really exciting benefits for Inso and AIS Software customers will come from the collaboration of our two development teams and the integration of AIS Software technology into Inso's Enterprise Information Platform.
"I see this agreement as very promising," said Francois Chahuneau, General Manager of Berger-Levrault/AIS. "Joining forces with Inso is a unique opportunity to bring the products and technologies developed at AIS Software to the level of market recognition which they deserve. It is also very exciting to recreate the informal 'brain trust' which had existed when Berger-Levrault/AIS closely cooperated with EBT, prior to their acquisition by Inso.
Inso Corporation is a leading global provider of electronic publishing and content management tools for critical business information. With Inso's Enterprise Information Platform, organizations gain an integrated system for managing, distributing, publishing, and continually updating their intellectual property. Inso's award-winning technology enables large corporations to exchange, publish, and deploy all types of information, from the simplest memo to the most complex multimedia document.
For more information, visit the Inso Web site at http://www.inso.com. For more information about AIS Software, visit http://www.balise.com.
DynaText, DynaBase, Inso and the Inso logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Inso Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
SOURCE: Inso Corporation
Contacts:
Inso Press Contact:
Paul Lamoureux
Media Relations Manager
Tel: +1 (617) 753-6854
Email: plamoureux@inso.com
Inso Investor Contact:
Betty J. Savage
Vice President and CFO
Tel: +1 (617) 753-6539
Email: bsavage@inso.com