Below, Dennis Motschenbacher of Yaesu has some encouraging things (in an Internet posting) to say about this "collaborative joint venture" and I hope he's correct. However, having been through two corporate mergers (both times with the smaller company), where in the first merger we were clearly the better run company (equal profit on one-half the sales the year before) and the other where we were a company in a completely different business than the larger company (that's why they bought us), they both made really nice statements immediately after the merger. Nice words about how we knew our business better than they did, and they were not going to interfere with our excellent technical processes and business practices. I don't know if either of the presidents "knew" they were lying, but they were. Soon there was all kinds of interfering, and most often not to the benefit of the business/technology. So I hope his experience is smoother than mine has been in similar circumstances. FYI. 73, Curt W4CP Curt Phillips CEM CMVP W4CP ex-KD4YU; WB4LHI ARRL Life; QCWA; SKCC; NASWA Tar Heel Scanner/SWL Group Raleigh, NC w4cp<at>arrl.net *-*-*-*-* Motorola Buys Yaesu: by K7BV on November 6, 2007 Exciting times, huh?! Clearly, many of you have read up some paying more attention to the facts and details than others - on the news that Vertex Standard Co., Ltd, (Vertex Standard USAs parent company) announced that they have agreed to form a collaborative joint venture with Motorola, Inc. I personally believe the most important words in this sentence are collaborative joint venture a business relationship that indicates a far different outcome intent than the demise of one of the venture partners. Since Yaesu is the Amateur Radio Division of Vertex Standard, I am sure you all are just as curious as me, a Yaesu employee with a job at stake (without a golden parachute), to know what this business transaction will mean to all of us in the hobby. Predictably, I see that the news about the pending new Motorola relationship with Vertex Standard, hence Yaesu, is giving life to all sorts of misinformation and doomsday Internet postings by the usual cast of characters who always seem to know so much more about things than the rest of us mere mortals. After studying public announcements and considering the internal information that is made available to me in my role as the leadership individual for North American sales at Yaesu, I would like to offer the following FACTS about this exciting development. Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) will launch a tender offer to acquire a controlling interest in Vertex Standard Co., Ltd. (JASDAQ: 6821). Upon successful completion of the tender offer and subsequent restructuring process, Motorola will own 80% of Vertex Standard and Toko Giken, a privately held Japanese company, controlled by Jun Hasegawa, current president and CEO of Vertex Standard, will retain 20%, forming a joint venture. On 5 November 2007, the Board of Directors of Vertex Standard expressed their support of the tender offer. Yaesu, of course, as one of the Vertex Standard operations, will be included in this exciting development. I want everyone to know the following about the proposed merger: Vertex Standard (meaning Yaesu to us in the Amateur Radio hobby) will remain a separate, global organization with distinct resources governed by the Board of Directors comprised of four Motorola representatives and one Toko Giken representative. Toko Giken is a privately held Japanese company, controlled by the founders family. It currently holds 29.2% shares of Vertex Standard. Mr. Jun Hasegawa (my boss), son of Mr. Sako Hasegawa JA1MP - the founder of Yaesu, will continue to take part in the management of Vertex Standard in his capacity as the Representative Director, President and CEO of Vertex Standard after the Tender Offer. The day-to-day management of the joint venture will be the responsibility of Mr. Hasegawa and his senior leadership team, who are also expected to continue. Count me as one of those who will continue with Yaesu. Our business will continue to be operated as is, and we will continue to actively develop new products and operate the business as a leading manufacturer of amateur radio, marine, land mobile, and airband radios. The Vertex Standard brand of equipment (Standard brand in Japan) will continue to exist. The current Vertex Standard brand strategies are highly respected by Motorola and will be continued. Since Motorola appreciates our Yaesu brand strategy, there will be no change to it. There will NOT be a Motorola brand of Amateur Radio equipment replacing or competing with Yaesu. Yaesu customers can expect to see positive benefit from the fact that: 1. Vertex Standard has an experienced engineering team that, combined with Motorolas extensive engineering talent, will develop new innovative products. Personally, I cannot wait to see what this joint engineering effort will bring to Amateur Radio! 2. Cost synergies will be realized through the use of Motorolas buying power to reduce the joint ventures costs for raw materials. Hams are known to enjoy seeking out the best buy for their hard earned money expect to see Yaesu products remain highly competitive and providing excellent value for your investment. Because Mr. Hasegawa will continue to manage the day-to-day operations of Vertex Standard, we do not expect to see changes in the existing Yaesu dealership, pricing and warranty commitments and philosophies as a result of the joint venture. These are historic exciting times for Yaesu, our customers, and Amateur Radio. The future is bright and the potential for incredible technological advancements for Amateur Radio are immense. I hope you folks will be there with us as the positive affects of the Vertex Standard / Motorola joint venture unfolds. 73, Dennis Motschenbacher K7BV [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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