Zecotek Subsidiary Acquires Product and Intellectual Property Assets of Two Laser Manufactures.
Vancouver, April 12, 2007. Zecotek Medical Systems Inc. (TSX-V: ZMS; Frankfurt: W1I.F) today announced that Zecotek Laser Systems Pte. Ltd. has closed on the previously announced letter of intent to acquire product and intellectual property assets from Inversion Fiber Co. Ltd. (Inversion) and Tekhnoscan JS Company (Tekhnoscan). Under the terms of the Agreements, Zecotek Laser Systems has acquired exclusive rights to a complementary portfolio of laser products, additional production capability and a proven team of world-class engineers. Inversion and Tekhnoscan each receive a minority five percent share of Zecotek Laser Systems. Zecotek Laser Systems also receives ongoing revenues generated from the sale of current and future products in development, as well as future revenue generated by existing or future intellectual property which may be created under the joint venture. All other fixed assets and liabilities remain under current Russian ownership.
“We are delighted to bring Inversion and Tekhnoscan with their exceptional team of world class experts in design, development, production, and distribution of high value laser products under Zecotek’s management,” said Dr. F. A. Zerrouk, Chairman, President, and CEO of Zecotek Medical Systems. “Zecotek has taken ownership of a very competitive portfolio of cutting-edge laser technologies, products, and world class production facilities, and, perhaps more importantly, we now have the ability to bring to market Zecotek’s own lasers currently in late stage development.”
Zecotek has valued the acquired assets of each company at approximately US$5 million, based on current and future revenue projections of the combined entity. Zecotek Laser Systems anticipates future growth through the product development, manufacturing, and distribution synergies of the three entities under a single management structure. The introduction of new products including Zecotek’s 456 and 488-nm lasers for biomedical applications, and a line of new fiber lasers which have been developed in partnership with Inversion will also contribute to future growth.
Zecotek Medical Systems also announced that Dr. Sergey Babin, Director and CEO of Inversion Fiber, and Dr. Sergey Kobtsev, President/CEO and Founder of Tekhnoscan, will immediately join Zecotek Laser Systems’ executive team.
Dr. Sergey Babin has been appointed Zecotek Laser Systems’ Executive Vice President Development, Manufacture & Commercialization of Fiber Laser products. In 1993 Dr. Babin co-founded Inversion as a commercial laser centre within the Academy Town of Novosibirsk to develop a range of high-power fiber laser systems for research and industrial applications, and successfully introduced these into the domestic and international markets. He led a prominent laser lab and has authored well over one hundred scientific papers and holds numerous patents. Dr. Babin has been a member of OSA since 1996 and a member of IEEE/LEOS since 2001. In 2001 he was appointed to Russia’s prestigious Board of National Experts in laser technologies.
Dr. Sergey Kobtsev has been appointed Zecotek Laser Systems’ Executive Vice President development, manufacture & commercialization of Solid State Lasers. Since 1983 he has headed Novosibirsk State University’s Laser Systems Laboratory. He is the founder of Tekhnoscan JS Company which has developed and brought to market a wide range of proprietary laser products based on dye and Ti:Sapphire technology. Dr. Kobtsev has published more than a hundred scientific papers and has been awarded numerous inventor certificates. He has been a member of the Board of National Experts ( Russia) since 1998, a member of the Russian Laser Association since 1996, the President of the Academ-Laser Association since 1996, and a member of OSA and IEEE.
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About Inversion
Inversion Fiber Co. Ltd. develops and manufactures advanced fiber lasers for application in fundamental research, material processing, holography, image recording, printing, medicine, bioinstrumentation and others. Fiber lasers are reliable and high-powered with high beam quality, compact and adjustment-free design, no water cooling and other customer-friendly features. Inversion’s product line includes high-power Argon/Krypton lasers generating in UV, blue-green, and yellow-red spectrum ranges (e.g. 1W 244 nm Ar laser for use in fiber Bragg grating technology). The company also produces fiber lasers in the infra-red and green spectrum ranges, including tuneable Yb-doped and Raman fiber lasers, single-frequency and frequency-doubled Yb-doped fiber lasers. Inversion is in the advanced development stage for various blue-green fiber lasers as a future alternative to noble-gas and DPSS lasers. Inversion’s products are used in many research institutes and companies in Russia, Germany, China, South Korea, Canada, the United States, and other countries. Inversion is located in Novosibirsk, Russia.
About Tekhnoscan
TEKHNOSCAN JS Company develops and manufactures lasers and laser-related products for a variety of scientific, technological, medical, and other applications. Tekhnoscan’s main products are tuneable Ti:Sapphire and dye lasers (single-frequency, frequency-stabilized, narrow-band, intracavity frequency-doubled, pulsed, femtosecond), direct-diode-pumped Yb:KGW lasers (femtosecond, picosecond, narrow-band), and specialized laser equipment (resonant frequency doublers, scanning interferometers, auto-correlators, laser power meters, etc.). Tekhnoscan laser products are used in numerous scientific and technological organizations in Russia, Germany, France, Switzerland, Japan, China, South Korea, Canada, the United States, and other countries. Tekhnosan is located in Novosibirsk, Russia. For more information visit: www.tekhnoscan.ru.
About Zecotek
Zecotek Medical Systems (TSX-V: ZMS; Frankfurt- W1I.F) is a bio-photonics technology company developing high-performance crystals, photo detectors, medical lasers, optical imaging and 3D display technologies for commercial applications in the medical diagnostics and high-tech industry. Founded in 2003, the company has three distinct operating divisions: medical imaging, medical lasers and 3D display and labs located in Canada, Singapore and Russia. Zecotek commercializes its novel, patented and patent-pending bio-photonic technologies directly and through strategic alliances and joint ventures with multinational OEMs, distributors and other industry leaders.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements that are based on management’s expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual future results and trends may differ materially from what may have been stated.
For additional information on Zecotek Medical Systems and our technologies please see our website at Zecotek Photonics.
For additional information please contact:
MICHAEL MINDER TIM MCNULTY
CFO; VP Corporate Development Caliber Capital Partners
T: (604) 827-5203 T: (778) 327-6678
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