Mainsoft signs strategic investment agreement with the Formula Group
Investment accelerates Mainsoft's Windows platform for Unix adoption rate for
Corporate IT Customers
SAN JOSE, CA. - December 14, 1999 - Mainsoft,
the leader in cross-platform solutions for the enterprise, today announced that
the company has reached a strategic investment agreement with the Formula Group
(NASDAQ: FORTY), a leading international information technology software
company. The transaction will be completed through Crystal Systems Solutions
Ltd. (NASDAQ: CRYS), a member of the Formula Group. Under the terms of
the agreement, Crystal will invest up to $22.5 million in Mainsoft, with an
initial investment of $10 million cash transaction.
Mainsoft plans to further build its marketing and
sales organization with the Formula Group investment as well as help fund
operational growth and expansion. Leveraging the Formula Group's industry
expertise, Mainsoft will begin to capitalize on the enormous corporate IT
market opportunity through the integration of business and technology.
This alliance with the Formula Group will help Mainsoft continue to produce and
deliver the most innovative and creative cross-platform development solutions
for Fortune 1,000 companies.
"We are proud to join forces with the Formula
Group. Their strong financial backing and industry expertise will allow
us to expand the adoption of our Windows platform for Unix to the corporate IT
marketplace," said Yaacov Cohen, president of Mainsoft. "With their
investment and guidance, we plan to scale up our corporate infrastructure and
strengthen our strategic relationship with Microsoft to deliver additional
creative technology solutions."
Mainsoft develops and markets a Windows platform for
Unix systems including Linux, allowing Windows applications to run natively in
those environments. MainWin, the company's flagship product, enables
independent software vendors and enterprise customers to maximize their current
investment in applications developed for Windows to generate native Unix
applications. By using MainWin, overall development costs are
dramatically reduced and time to market is significantly improved. To
date, the company has deployed more than one million end-user licenses of
MainWin.
"This investment in Mainsoft underscores our
commitment to the cross-platform development needs of our current and future
customers," said Gadi Goldstein, president of Formula Systems and chairman of
Crystal. "The collaboration between Mainsoft's management team coupled
with the Formula Group's leadership will enable us to take advantage of this
enormous market opportunity. As a result, we felt compelled to invest in
the leading provider of Windows-to-Unix cross-platform development solutions."
About Formula
The Formula Group is an international information
technology company principally engaged, through its subsidiaries and
affiliates, in providing software consulting services developing proprietary
software products, and providing computer-based solutions.
About Crystal Systems Solutions
Established in 1987, Crystal Systems Solutions Ltd.
(NASDAQ: CRYS) provides software renovation solutions, based on its proprietary
technology, for complex conversion and migration projects. Crystal has built
its conversion expertise through the successful completion of projects for many
prestigious Fortune 1,000 companies, thus establishing its competency and
achieving global recognition and presence.
The Crystal renovation methodology consists of
several phases, including assessment, conversion and testing. This methodology
allows for tailor-made adjustments to the automated process, based on client
requests, thus providing cost-effective, customized solutions. Crystal's
renovation solutions include platform and database migrations, IT mergers and
acquisitions, and language upgrades. They are available for mainframe,
midrange and client/server computing platforms. Crystal Systems Solutions is a
member of the Formula Group (NASDAQ: FORTY).
About MainWin
MainWin is Mainsoft's Windows platform for Unix
systems including Linux. MainWin includes the implementation of Win32 APIs and
Windows NT services on Unix. Through strategic agreements with Microsoft,
Mainsoft has access to Windows NT and Windows 2000 source code. Mainsoft has
incorporated several million lines of original Windows NT source code into
MainWin. This ensures that applications developed with C, C++ and Dynamic
HTML for Windows will run on Unix as it does on Windows NT. For example, some
of the more leading business applications re-hosted to Unix with MainWin
include: Microsoft's Internet Explorer; Microsoft's Outlook; Computer
Associate's Unicenter; and Alcatel's X-Vision Enterprise.
About Mainsoft Corporation
Mainsoft automates re-hosting Windows NT applications
on Unix and Linux platforms. Founded in 1991, Mainsoft is privately held with
its corporate headquarters in San Jose, CA. The company maintains sales offices
in Boston, Atlanta, Austin, Washington D.C., and London.
Mainsoft customers include Fortune 1,000 companies,
Independent Software Vendors (ISV's), corporate enterprise software developers,
government agencies, and OEMs. For additional information on Mainsoft, call
408.544.1400 or visit their Web site at www.mainsoft.com.
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