Tuesday 15 May 2007
HumanWare Shareholders Accept Proposal and Celebrate Achievements
Christchurch, New Zealand – HumanWare shareholders today voted in favour of a $10.80-a-share proposal from Jolimont
Capital and HumanWare senior managers. Adviser Deloitte had concluded the fair value to shareholders was in the range
$9.80 to $12.80 a share. The offer is being funded by private equity from Jolimont Capital, debt financing from ANZ
National Bank and personal investments from HumanWare senior managers. HumanWare has around 3.3m shares on issue.
HumanWare CEO Dr Richard Mander expressed his delight at the result of the vote “This marks an exciting next chapter in
the growth of HumanWare, and we look forward to delivering on our strategy. It’s also a wonderful opportunity while
staff and shareholders are gathered to take stock of achievements to date and to celebrate”. Charles Gillies, Managing
Partner, Jolimont Capital echoed this sentiment. “We are looking forward to working with HumanWare to build on their
achievements and achieve their vision” said Gillies.
After the vote staff and shareholders joined in a celebration of HumanWare’s achievements. HumanWare makes a range of
blindness, low vision, digital talking books, and GPS products that improve the lives of blind, low vision, and learning
disabled people.
A large collage was unveiled to celebrate the journey of HumanWare from 1973 to 2005 under the leadership of the
visionary Dr Russell Smith. Dr Russell Smith was tragically killed along with his wife Marion D’Eve in a light plane
accident in 2005. The display was unveiled by Shirley Farrar, who recently retired from HumanWare after 25 years. She
was the executive assistant to Dr Russell Smith and to CEO Dr Richard Mander.
The display charts Dr Russell Smith’s first interest in assistive technologies while completing his Ph.D. in Sonar while
at the University of Canterbury in 1973. At this time he developed the Binaural Sensory Aid, a sophisticated sonar
system build into spectacles, which made it possible for blind users to sense and interpret their environment using
sound.
HumanWare’s ground breaking research and developments continued with products such as hand held sensors, text scanners,
reading systems, word processors with speech synthesis and the BrailleNote with GPS.
Dr Smith’s contribution to the industry is highlighted in 2003 when he is made an honorary fellow of the Institute of
Professional Engineers. In 2004 he was awarded a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to the
visually impaired. In 2007 HumanWare created the Russell Smith and Marian D’Eve Chair in Assistive Technology at the
University of Canterbury to commemorate the distinguished couple.
HumanWare is headquartered in Christchurch, New Zealand under the leadership of Dr Mander. The company’s low vision and
blindness products are designed and manufactured in the Christchurch Product Development Centre which also serves as the
company headquarters. Digital Talking Book and GPS products are designed and manufactured in a Product Development
Centre in Montreal Canada.
The company has its own distribution and sales teams in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, USA, United Kingdom, Sweden, and
The Netherlands, and dealers in more than thirty countries. Sales are over $NZ70m and 98% of all products are exported.
ENDS
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