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EXHIBIT 99.1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 21, 2000
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Accom's ELSET Acquired By
Orad Hi - Tec Systems
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Kfar Saba, Israel & Menlo Park, CA, USA - Orad Hi-Tec Systems (Neur Markt:
OHT.f) and Accom, Inc. (OTC-ACMM) announced today that they have finalized the
sale of Accom's entire ELSET virtual set product line to Orad. Orad, based in
Kfar Saba, Israel will also acquire ELSET's intellectual property, Accom's ELSET
development team as well as the ELSET technical sales and marketing personnel
located in Menlo Park. The transaction provides Orad with an NT based virtual
studio solution that compliments its existing line of CyberSets. The acquisition
represents Orad's strategy announced during its IPO in November of last year to
strengthen its hold on the virtual set market.
The transaction was completed, subject to certain government approvals, on
January 21, 2000. Under the agreement, Accom received four million dollars cash
from Orad as well as equity interest in the form of warrants for 70,423 shares.
"Today Orad is fulfilling a promise made to our investors by strengthening our
market leadership and staying at the forefront of technological advances. ELSET
is a welcomed addition to Orad's already successful line of CyberSet virtual
studios," said Orad's President, Avi Sharir. "I have tremendous respect for
Accom and the achievements they made over the years. ELSET's NT platform
completes our virtual studio product offering, and we are pleased to be adding a
product with worldwide recognition and demonstrated success in the marketplace.
ELSET provides Orad with a unique and needed NT solution and the most advanced
graphics visualization quality." Mr. Sharir added: "Existing ELSET customers
will continue to receive support for their systems from Orad. We look forward to
working with ELSET's superior development team, a group that pioneered the
virtual set industry and tap into their experience and knowledge. Combining
these characteristics with those of CyberSet will provide Orad's existing and
future customers with the most comprehensive virtual studio product line on the
market to-date."
Accom Chairman and CEO, Junaid Sheikh said, "I am extremely pleased about
today's announcement because the combination of ELSET technology and Orad brings
together two market leaders with complementary strengths. ELSET is the only
product line in the marketplace today, which offers virtual set solutions
running on the SGI Irix and Windows NT operating systems. The ELSET virtual set
solutions will benefit from Orad's strong brand and market reach. And Orad will
benefit from the world-class technology and the people that have differentiated
ELSET for the last five years in virtual set solutions." Sheikh continued, "The
combination of ELSET technology and Orad creates the most powerful virtual set
technology tools in the industry today. Technology is very important, and Orad
is a company that is primarily focused and committed to virtual technology
solutions. This deal enables Accom to fully concentrate on developing and
marketing outstanding products and superior technologies in digital video
effects, editing and video servers within the broadcast television and
professional video markets."
Orad will continue to support Accom's existing ELSET customers some of whom
include: BBC, Turner Broadcasting, MBC Korea, Center TV Moscow, and TV Poland.
"These highly visible ELSET
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customers chose the ELSET technology because it is easy to use, is reasonably
priced for virtually any producer's budget, is multi-platform and produces clear
crisp results," commented Sheikh.
About Orad
Orad is a publicly-traded company, whose principal investors are ISL, the
world's largest sports sponsorship organization, the ORMAT Group, a
publicly-traded conglomerate of companies engaged in high-tech investments,
optical inspection, alternative energy and sophisticated medical diagnostics and
Intel Atlantic Inc., a subsidiary of Intel Corporation.
Founded in 1993, Orad is a world leader in virtual studios, virtual advertising
and sports production tools, specializing in the development and manufacture of
video and real-time image processing technologies. Orad has received extensive
worldwide recognition for its systems at a wide-range of events.
About Accom
Accom, headquartered in Menlo Park, California, designs, manufactures, sells,
and supports a complete line of digital video production, recording and editing
tools, for the worldwide professional television production, post production,
broadcasting, and computer video marketplaces.
For more information, visit the Accom web site at www.accom.com.
Special Note: This press release contains forward-looking statements that are
subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from
those projected in the forward-looking statements. Accom wishes to alert readers
that there exist various risk factors related to the sale of the ELSET business,
such as the risk that all required governmental approvals may not be obtained or
may be delayed. There also exist various risk factors related to the Company's
business, such as the risk that the Company's new products will not achieve
market acceptance, and the risk that the Company will not return to profitable
growth, as well as other factors, which could cause actual events or the
Company's results for future quarters or years to differ materially from those
expressed in any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company.
Accom directs readers to the more detailed discussion of risk factors related to
its business in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
1998 under the heading "Additional Factors That May Affect Future Results." The
10-K report is available by calling Accom at 650-328-3818 or by accessing
Accom's EDGAR filings on the SEC home page on the Internet at
http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/srch-edgar?accom.
Contact: Mr. Eitan Kushner Contact: Ms. Susan Simon
Orad Hi-Tec Systems LTD, PO Box 2177 Marketing Communications Mgr.
Kfar Saba 44425, Israel Accom
Tel: +972-9-767-6862 ext. 503 1490 O'Brien Drive
Fax: +972-9-767-6861 Menlo Park, CA 94025 USA
E-Mail: eitan@orad.co.il Tel: (650) 328-3818 ext. 231
---------------- Fax: (650) 327-2511
www.orad.co.il E-Mail: susan@accom.com
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