Norwegian multimedia projection equipment manufacturer Ask asa is to acquire US projection operation Proxima Corp for $84m. The companies hope the tie up will enable them to provide worldwide coverage of the projection market, in which Ask holds a strong position in Europe and Proxima in the US. The companies have entered into a definitive agreement that will see Ask acquiring all of Proxima’s shares at $11 a throw. The deal is subject to the usual shareholder approval, but Ask will commence a tender offer before the end of the week. Under the terms of the agreement San Diego, Nasdaq-traded Proxima will become a wholly owned subsidiary of the Fredrikstad company which trades on the Oslo stock exchange. Proxima has not been performing as well as it would have liked of late and reported a first quarter net loss of $1.6m, down from losses of $4.2m last time on revenue down 17.1% to $29m (CI No 3,223). But shares have been trading well just recently at just above $10, compared to its year low of $4.375 in July. Proxima’s vice president and chief financial officer Dennis Whittle anticipates the deal will close by the middle of April. Each company employs about 200 staff, and the companies are in the process at looking at overlapping areas, which could lead to some redundancies, but no firm decision has yet been made. It is not yet clear under what name the companies will trade. Whittle says both company names and product names have a lot of clout in their respective markets and they are in the process of making a decision.
