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Reef Point Raises $25 Million in Funding
BURLINGTON, Mass. --(Business Wire)-- Reef Point Systems, the technology leader in convergence gateway platforms and solutions for fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) networks, announced today it has closed $25 million in its Series 2 round of funding led by new investor One Equity Partners LLC (OEP), the private equity investment arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM). Returning investors in the round include American Capital Strategies, Ltd. (NASDAQ: ACAS) and Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP).
The new funds will be used to further build Reef Point's market profile and expand the distribution network of partners and integrators for its Universal Convergence Gateway (UCG) product line. The company also will make investments to expand its customer services and support organizations to speed the transition from telecommunications service provider trials to commercial deployments of its UCG-based solutions.
Recent market data from independent analysts indicate that FMC is one of the most promising new segments of the telecommunications equipment and services market. A survey from research firm ABI forecasts that by 2011, operators worldwide will generate $97 billion in service revenue from FMC applications, while industry analyst iLocus, predicts US cellular operators could lose $3.3 billion a year by 2011 if they do not embrace FMC. For more market data, see a longer version of this press release on http://www.reefpoint.com.
"This new investment validates the strength of Reef Point's market-ready offering and provides us the means to meet the explosive demand from service providers for FMC solutions worldwide," said Woody Ritchey, Chief Executive Officer of Reef Point. "The participation of JPMorgan and OEP brings more than financial capital. Their expertise in telecom and technology, deep relationships and growing portfolio of related investments opens up exciting possibilities during this dynamic evolution in the global communications industry."
"We are equally pleased to have the continued support of our existing investors, American Capital and JVP, by their participation in this funding round and by their ongoing added value at the board level," noted Ritchey.
David Walsh, Partner at OEP, has been named to Reef Point's Board of Directors. Mr. Walsh, who built and operated a number of large, global telecommunications companies before joining OEP, is Chairman of the Board of WestCom Corporation and Vercuity and sits on the board of NexTone Communications and Last Mile Connections.
"Reef Point's Universal Convergence Gateway leads the FMC market along every dimension - feature set, interoperability, performance and scale," said Walsh. "Reef Point has a 12 to18 month lead in a market whose growth is being driven by increasing demand among consumers and enterprises for unified communications services. This financing round will enable Reef Point to fully support the expansion of mass-market deployments that the FMC market will experience over the next few years."
Reef Point's Universal Convergence Gateway products and solutions for fixed-mobile convergence are available through its global channel partner Alcatel-Lucent and through Datacraft, one of the largest systems integrators and value-added resellers in the Asia-Pacific region. For more information visit http://www.reefpoint.com.
About One Equity Partners:
One Equity Partners (OEP) manages $5 billion of investments and commitments for JPMorgan Chase & Co. in direct private equity transactions. Partnering with management, OEP invests in transactions that initiate strategic and operational changes in businesses to create long-term value. OEP's investment professionals are located across North America and Europe, with offices in New York, Chicago and Frankfurt.
About American Capital
American Capital is the second largest U.S. publicly traded alternative asset manager with approximately $11 billion in assets under management (second to Fortress (NYSE: FIG)). American Capital, both directly and through its global asset management business, is an investor in management and employee buyouts, private equity buyouts, and early stage and mature private and public companies. American Capital provides senior debt, mezzanine debt and equity to fund growth, acquisitions, recapitalizations and securitizations. American Capital and its affiliates invest from $5 million to $750 million per company in North America and EUR 5 million to EUR 400 million per company in Europe.
About Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP)
JVP (www.jvpvc.com) is a leading venture capital firm focusing on investments in early stage companies in the media technologies & enterprise software, semiconductors & innovative materials and communications & networking sectors. With over $680 million under management and offices in Israel, North America, Europe and China, JVP leverages its international presence, vast expertise and substantial capital base to build companies with the potential to shape and dominate global markets.
About Reef Point Systems
Reef Point Systems (www.reefpoint.com) is the maker of the Universal Convergence Gateway (UCG), the telecommunications industry's only available platform purpose-built with the functionality, performance and scalability to provide comprehensive access control (termination, security, policy management and quality of service) for the full range of fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) implementations and industry standard architectures. The UCG platform and its broad range of FMC solutions give service providers the utmost freedom, flexibility and affordability to build compelling, competitive services for their customers. These solutions maximize service reach, by delivering services over any access technology; ensure service availability by protecting all levels of the FMC infrastructure (subscriber device, access network, IP core and applications) and by enforcing quality of service; and protect revenue streams by defending against theft of service. Reef Point Systems is a privately held company located in Burlington, Massachusetts, USA.
Reef Point Systems and Universal Convergence Gateway are trademarks of Reef Point Systems. Other company names, product names and company logos mentioned herein are the trademarks, or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
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