Companies merge media technologies to provide first open, standards-based "hard news" advancement

Boston, MA — April 28, 2000 — Covington Associates, seasoned M & A advisors to technology and healthcare, today announced the sale of its client, Vibrint Technologies ("Vibrint"), to Grass Valley Group ("Grass Valley"), an Emmy® award-winning leader in digital media and content management. Vibrint, a developer of innovative solutions for digital news production, in April of 1999 introduced the first cost-effective, open, standards-based workgroup of digital production tools, a solution critical to overcoming the major technological barrier in newsrooms everywhere-the transition from traditional news scripting and video production processes to streamlined digital processes. [Financial terms of the deal, which closed today, were not released.]

Later in 1999, Grass Valley introduced a concomitant digital media advancement in the form of its Profile® XP Media Platform, a portal for the rapid access, management, and distribution of video, audio, and data assets supporting the broadcast-quality digital signals of its Emmy® award-winning Profile® system. The standards-based nature of both products allowed for the rapid integration of each system's strengths into a complete solution for assembling and editing hard news stories for both on-air and online media outfits; the acquisition of Vibrint thereby extends Grass Valley's spectrum of standards-based network production tools.

The acquisition also speeds the technology to market, with the resultant benefits already being realized by Vibrint and Grass Valley clients.

"The Vibrint solution allowed us to leverage our existing assets, including the Profile, without waiting for special plug-ins or future developments, said Steve Harrington, Director of News Operations at WHDH-TV, the Boston-based NBC affiliate, in a Vibrint press release dated March 28, 2000. "The fact that we can transfer MPEG files from the edit bay to playout faster than real-time, and begin playing to air while it is still transferring, is very important when we're trying to a breaking story to air."

About Covington Associates
Covington Associates are seasoned M & A advisors to technology and healthcare. Focused exclusively on mergers and acquisitions, Covington Associates has established a track record of success based on deep domain experience and an unrivaled level of service from a team of senior advisors. Since 1991, the firm has successfully completed over 50 transactions ranging in size from $10 million to over $1 billion in e-services, software, IT services, and healthcare technologies. To learn more about Covington Associates, visit www.covingtonassociates.com.



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