Enhanced Services To Acquire Zulu-tek Assets in $30 Million Deal

Enhanced Services Company Inc. said it executed a binding agreement to acquire all of the assets of Zulu-tek Inc., owner of the former SOFTBANK Interactive Marketing operation, in a deal valued at $30 million.

Enhanced Services, a maker of peripheral products for portable computers, will pay about $24.2 million in stock and assume $6 million in debt, valuing the transaction at about 58 cents for each share of Zulu-Tek.

The combined company will provide a ‘one-stop shopping’ environment for companies seeking to establish, maintain and improve their transactional business and advertising presence on the Internet, ESVS said.

Most of the SOFTBANK execs bailed when Zulu-tek acquired the company (including the entire European staff), and there is still a $200 million lawsuit kicking around over the matter. Some of the founders and former execs sued SOFTBANK’s corporate parents, Softbank Holdings and its subsidiary, Ziff-Davis, saying they abused their control of SIM by mismanaging the company’s business and selling to an inappropriate buyer.

Under the terms of the agreement, expected to close this week, the convertible preferred shares of Enhanced Services issued to Zulu-tek will be converted to common shares and distributed to Zulu’s shareholders promptly after ESVS stockholders’ meeting and regulatory approval and registration.

“As a result of the acquisition, Enhanced Services establishes itself as a leading provider of interactive advertising and e-commerce solutions on the Internet. We will compete in three dynamic sectors of the rapidly growing Web marketplace: e-commerce, technology and interactive advertising, which gives us a significant competitive edge,” said Roger Mincheff, Enhanced Services president, in a statement.