RedMere Technology and Fresco Microchip have entered into a definitive agreement to merge with Chrysalis Capital VIII to create Spectra7 Microsystems, a soon to be publicly traded company on the Toronto TSX Venture Exchange. Spectra7 is being formed to address the exponential demand for more bandwidth and lower costs in mobile and internet infrastructure equipment, including handsets, tablets, base stations and microwave backhaul systems. Spectra7 will be a high performance analog semiconductor company focused on delivering high bandwidth solutions for mobile infrastructure and consumer products.

RedMere is the leader in active HDMI connectivity solutions and has products in production with leading cable OEMs available at retail electronics stores around the world. Fresco is a leader in silicon demodulators and tuner solutions for television OEMs worldwide. Using IP developed by RedMere and Fresco over the past seven years, Spectra7 will be in a position to provide new system level analog components that will deliver unprecedented bandwidth over fiber, copper and wireless links designed to address the bandwidth bottlenecks in today’s and tomorrow’s mobile Internet.

Chrysalis VIII, a Capital Pool Company, will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares in the capital of Fresco and RedMere. At closing, Chrysalis VIII shall be the “resulting issuer,” with each of Fresco and RedMere becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chrysalis VIII. Upon completion of the transaction, it is anticipated that Celtic House Venture Partners will own approximately 50% of the outstanding Spectra7 Shares and VW8 will own approximately 20% of the outstanding Spectra7 Shares.

Spectra7 is expected to raise over $10 million in equity, including investments from Celtic House Venture Partners, EdgeStone Capital Partners and Ventures West. The combination of both companies will result in a capital investment to date of over $80 million, a significant portfolio of patents and development centers in four countries.

RedMere and Fresco management will be expanded with the appointment of Tony Stelliga as Spectra7’s incoming President and CEO. Stelliga is currently CEO of RedMere and is a member of the Board of Directors of both RedMere and Fresco. Stelliga was formerly the Chairman and CEO of Quellan, which was acquired by Intersil. He also held senior management and strategic positions at Intel following Intel’s acquisition of Softcom Microsystems in 1999, where he served as founder, Chairman and CEO.

RedMere provides active-cable ICs that enable compact thin, flexible and portable digital connectivity over HDMI, DisplayPort and USB, as well as enterprise solutions using Infiniband and PCI Express. The company is headquartered in Cork, Ireland. RedMere lead investors include Celtic House and EdgeStone.

Several companies, including Monster, Best Buy Rocketfish, Buffalo, JVC, PNY, RadioShack, Samsung and Vizio, among others, offer active HDMI cables using RedMere technology. RedMere’s technology works using a “booster module”, which includes a tiny chip, and resides in the cable connector. The booster module makes up one end of the HDMI cable (the TV/display end) and, harnessing a tiny amount of leftover power from the TV’s connector, amplifies and equalizes the signal.

Fresco Microchip is headquartered in Toronto, Canada with design centers in the head office and Irvine, California. Lead investors include Celtic House, Ventures West and OVCF. The FM1100 family of Global Analog Demodulators & Digital IF Processors features single-chip devices that combine universal analog demodulation and multi-standard digital IF processing for global terrestrial and cable television markets.

The FM2050 is a single-chip demodulator for DVB-T and universal analog (NTSC, PAL, SECAM) and television broadcasts. Fresco’s simply RF™ family of Silicon Tuners for Worldwide Analog and Hybrid Television eliminates redundant functionality and components that are also commonly found in the television SoC. Millions of Fresco’s chips have shipped worldwide in thousands of TV models made by several leading consumer electronic brands.

Spectra7 is currently going through regulatory approvals and should be up and running by early October. The first new products from Spectra7 are scheduled to roll out sometime in 2013.

Tony Stelliga, CEO

www.redmere.com
www.frescomicrochip.com