Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

Intrasonics could provide vital communication links during periods of high emergency

Dutch private equity group, Mainframe Participaties, has bought Sagentia’s entire shareholding for an initial cash consideration of £1.46m. Further payments, up to a maximum of £4.5m, could be received over the coming years depending on performance.

Intrasonics provides a new way of directly connecting broadcast media to mobile networks using data embedded in sound. Its patented ‘Sound Link and Sync’ system addresses a number of applications including interactive gaming and advertising.

It also has the potential to allow people to receive and review important messages on their mobile devices in times of major catastrophes when mass communication is vital, but regular networks are unable to cope with huge volumes of traffic.

The system can send messages and instructions direct to mobile phones even when mobile networks are down or out of reach, such as when underground.

Martin Frost, CEO of Sagentia Group, said: “I am pleased that, in Mainframe Participaties, we have found an organisation capable of quickly building channels to market for the Intrasonics technology, which has been developed at Sagentia by a team led by Rob Morland, CEO of Intrasonics.”

Sagentia said the sale of Intrasonics was an important milestone in its strategy – outlined earlier this year – of returning the consulting business to profitability and growth, building the technology licensing and product royalty side of the business while at the same time seeking to trade out of the current venture capital portfolio.

Fee income order intake into the consulting business for 2007 is expected to exceed £17.7m, more than 10 per cent ahead of 2006 (£15.9m), and the business is now trading profitability on a quarter by quarter basis.