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TOKYO (September 3, 2009) – Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Co., Ltd. (MKM) announced today the
acquisition of Freecom B.V., a privately held data storage and multimedia solutions provider established
in Germany with headquarters in Rijswijk, Netherlands and offices in Austria, Belgium, France, Hong
Kong, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and United Kingdom. Effective September 1,
2009, the stock-funded acquisition includes all of Freecom’s physical assets, patents, trademarks,
technology, engineering, sales and marketing expertise. The purchase price was not disclosed. With the
acquisition, MKM adds Freecom to the MKM/Verbatim group. Verbatim is already a leading brand in
the worldwide external storage market.
The Freecom acquisition represents yet another investment made by the MKM/Verbatim group aimed at
the growing external hard disk drive (HDD) market. The asset acquisition of SmartDisk, made in June
2007, has proved successful in establishing MKM/Verbatim in both the portable and desktop external
HDD markets on a global basis. By leveraging the strength of the Verbatim brand and channel
relationships in the worldwide removable storage markets, the MKM/Verbatim external HDD business
has grown more than 600 percent during the past two years.
Freecom is an industry pioneer in easy-to-use external storage and one of the leading European storage
brands, holding many key distribution and retail partnerships throughout Europe and currently expanding
in Asia. The company has a twenty-year history in developing and marketing high-quality, innovative
storage solutions that meet the needs of consumers, professional users and small businesses. Freecom’s
capabilities and premium market position will be a very powerful addition to the already expanding
MKM/Verbatim external storage business.
MKM expects both Verbatim and Freecom businesses will be strengthened by improvement in economies
of scale related to procurement, manufacturing and logistics. Both businesses will also benefit from
collaborative product development and marketing efforts that will uniquely position both brands while
reducing time to market for new and innovative storage solutions. Collectively, Verbatim and Freecom
will capitalize on geographic and channel synergies which will enable a higher degree of market
penetration resulting from a diverse range of storage solutions and unique brand positioning.
“The acquisition of Freecom brings together two of the industry's strongest removable storage brands,”
said Shigenori Otsuka, president of MKM. “It accelerates MKM’s strategic initiative to fuel growth in the
external storage category, strengthens our combined global market leadership positions and generates
opportunities for growth in new markets. We’re especially pleased in the complementary positioning of
the Verbatim and Freecom brands and the collaborative spirit that we see having brought this new
company into the MKM/Verbatim group.”
“As part of the MKM/Verbatim group, Freecom will benefit from the economies of scale that can be
achieved as well as the geographic and channel synergies of the Verbatim and Freecom brands,” said
Dick C. Hoogerdijk, Freecom B.V. President, CEO and co-founder. “We also look forward to the
opportunity to leverage the strengths of the Freecom organization to contribute to the total business of the
MKM/Verbatim/Freecom group, both now and in the years to come.”
The need for a variety of fast, easy solutions for storing, sharing and transporting data files, presentations,
photos, music and video is fueling explosive growth in the worldwide storage industry. According to
research analysts at IDC, data storage will grow at more than 50 percent per year between 2008 to 2010.
With the addition of Freecom, the MKM/Verbatim group is well positioned to serve this expanding
market with industry leading brands, strong distribution channels, innovative storage solutions, and an
operations platform that allows quick scaling to meet specific consumer and market needs.
About Freecom
Freecom, founded in 1989, designs, manufacturers and markets innovative desktop and mobile storage
solutions, network attached storage devices, media players, internet radios, flash drives, DVD burners and
professional tape drives. Freecom serves both PC and Mac users. Established in Germany, Freecom is
headquartered in the Netherlands, with offices in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy,
Japan, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and United Kingdom. For more information, contact Cas de
Heus at cas.deheus@freecom.com. In Asia contact vivian.huang@freecom.com. Or visit the website at
www.freecom.com and select the country of your location.
About MKM and Verbatim
Verbatim’s businesses in the Americas, Europe/Middle East/Africa and Asia Pacific regions are wholly
owned subsidiaries of Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Co., Ltd. MKM’s parent company,
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC), is one of the largest chemical companies in Japan.
Verbatim develops and markets innovative, high-quality products for storing, moving and using digital
content. Known for its leadership in the optical, magnetic and flash storage and related accessories
markets, the company provides reliable, unique technologies and products that are highly sought after and
broadly distributed worldwide. For more information, contact Verbatim Americas, LLC, 1200 W.T.
Harris Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28262, (800) 421-4188. In Europe, Verbatim Ltd., Prestige House, 23-26
High Street, Egham, Surrey, TW20 9DU, UK, (+44) 1784 439 781. In Japan, Mitsubishi Kagaku Media
Co., Ltd., 4-1-23, Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8415, Japan (+81) 3-5454-3972. Or visit the web site at
www.verbatim.com and select the country of your location.
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Verbatim and Freecom Technologies are registered trademarks. Other company and product names contained
herein are trademarks of their respective companies. Specifications subject to change without notice.
Japan Press Contact: Yukana Yamashita
7108060@cc.m-kagaku.co.jp
+81-3-5484-3972
Verbatim US Press Contact: Dean Linker
dean.linker@verbatim.com
(704) 547-6500
Verbatim Europe Press Contact: Rüdiger Theobald
rtheobald@verbatim-europe.com
+49 (0)6196-9001-36
Verbatim Asia Pacific Press Contact: Stephen Kwok
stephen.kwok@verbatim.com.au
+852 2946 5916
Freecom BV Europe Press Contact: Cas de Heus
cas.deheus@freecom.com
+31 (0)70 336 76 02
Freecom Asia Press Contact: Vivian Huang
vivian.huang@freecom.com
+886 2700 1086
¹Verbatim was founded in 1969 in California, USA. In 1990, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, (still Mitsubishi Kasei
Corporation at the time) the parent company of Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Co., Ltd., purchased Verbatim.
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