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Topic | Page | |||
1. Transaction Rationale, Background and Details
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2. CPIs Financial Performance
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3. Due-Diligence, Synergies and Impact on Accretion
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4. Closing Timetable
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5. Anti-trust and Shareholder Communication
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6. Reconciliation of CPIs GAAP Net Income to CPIs EBITDA
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1. | What is the strategic
and financial rationale for combining Comtech and CPI? |
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We are very excited about this acquisition as it accomplishes a number of strategic and
financial benefits for Comtech: |
| Almost triples the size of Comtechs RF microwave amplifier segment and is
anticipated to generate over $50.0 million of earnings before interest, income taxes,
depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) on an annual
basis.(1) |
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| Immediately establishes Comtech as a leading global supplier of vacuum
electron devices (including klystron, traveling wave and power grid tubes). CPIs tubes
and amplifiers are incorporated into products that are used in a broad array of
applications and end-markets. |
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| Drives further innovation by combining manufacturing, engineering and
sales teams for Comtechs XICOM branded-product group with CPIs Satcom product group
to take advantage of united resources which are expected to deliver new and advanced
amplifiers and other products to be used in satellite communications, radar
applications and other electronic warfare systems. |
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| Diversifies Comtechs product portfolio and customer base. CPI has an
extensive portfolio of over 4,500 microwave and power grid tubes. No customer other
than the U.S. government accounted for more than 10% of CPIs sales for its last four
fiscal quarters ended January 1, 2010. |
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| Approximately 40% of CPIs sales of $338.5 million for its last four
fiscal quarters ended January 1, 2010 are derived from annuity-like sales for
replacement, spares and repairs, including upgraded replacements for existing
sole-sourced products. These sales have strong related cash flows which will allow
Comtech to become a more stable, predictable business that is partially insulated from
dramatic shifts in market conditions. |
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| Strategically redeploys a significant portion of Comtechs existing cash
to enhance earnings per share and shareholder value. Comtechs balance sheet strength
will remain strong. Comtech expects that, upon the closing of the transaction, it will
have between $150.0 million and $200.0 million of cash and
cash equivalents. |
(1) | Please see reconciliation of CPIs GAAP net income to CPIs EBITDA
at the end of this document. |
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2. | Isnt CPI a slow
growing company? |
| We agree that CPI has a slower growth rate than Comtech does on a stand-alone basis.
In our view, this is because many of CPIs products are used in large complicated
systems, such as radar systems, which generally have long product life cycles many of
which are expected to last literally decades. CPI is an incumbent on many of these
programs and these sales have strong related cash flows which will allow Comtech to
become a more stable, predictable business that is partially insulated from dramatic
shifts in market conditions. |
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| In recent years, management of CPI has invested in a number of exciting new growth
areas including innovative Flat Parabolic Surface (FLAPS) based antenna technology
that is currently being deployed to allow communication with unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAVs). Although this product line is relatively small, we believe that it has
strong growth potential in future years. |
3. | How was the price for CPI determined? |
| We believe we are paying a fair price for CPI. Based on the most recent closing
price of Comtechs common stock as of May 7, 2010, the equity value of the transaction
currently approximates $16.40 per outstanding CPI share, which represents a premium of
25.7% as compared to the last closing price of CPI and 21.3% as compared to the last 30
trading day average closing price. Based on CPIs revenue of $338.5 million and EBITDA
of $56.4 million for the four fiscal quarters ended January 1, 2010, and the
transactions enterprise value of $472.3 million, the enterprise value of the
transaction translates into a last twelve months revenue multiple of 1.4x and a last
twelve months EBITDA multiple of 8.4x. |
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| Since the price was fully negotiated by the parties, we are comfortable that the
price is fair to both sets of shareholders. When considering price, we considered
fundamental and relative value. We analyzed, in great detail, what we believe will be
the mid and long-term financial and strategic benefits of the combination. |
4. | What is the rationale for the acquisition structure? Why are you issuing shares of
Comtech Common Stock rather than paying all cash? |
| Ultimately, as you know, any deal needs to work for shareholders on both sides of
the transaction and the cash and stock structure of the transaction was based on the
outcome of the negotiation process between the parties. We believe this stock and cash
combination is very favorable. The acquisition allows us to strategically redeploy a
significant portion of our existing cash to enhance our earnings per share, while
retaining a strong post-transaction balance sheet. Upon the closing of the transaction,
we estimate that we will have between $150.0 million and $200.0 million of cash and
cash equivalents to further execute our business plan. |
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| Complete details of the negotiation process between both parties will be available
in documents that will be filed with the SEC. |
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5. | Is the structure tax-free to CPI shareholders? |
| The structure has not been designed to be tax-free; however, CPI shareholders are
encouraged to consult with their own tax advisors. |
6. | When did you begin to consider this transaction? Is this transaction a defensive
strategy for Comtech because you are concerned about losing MTS and BFT? |
| We have considered CPI an attractive business for many years. Discussions between
the parties became active earlier this year and ultimately resulted in the acquisition
announcement. |
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| This is not a defensive transaction for Comtech. As we have stated in the past, we
believe that we are strongly positioned to continue to grow our existing businesses,
including winning the BFT-2 competition and any potential MTS recompete. |
7. | Would a stock buyback have been more accretive than what you are anticipating for the
CPI transaction? |
| Although we are not providing specific earnings per share guidance for the CPI
transaction at this time, it is fair to say that a stock buyback would have been more
accretive in the short-term. As indicated above, there are a number of strategic
benefits that the acquisition will bring to Comtech which we believe, over time, will
unlock value for our shareholders. |
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| CPI has a global infrastructure and well-recognized sales and service presence
adding not only revenues but human resources. From a sales and marketing perspective,
we believe that our combined amplifier sales organization will be a force in the global
market place. CPI has perennially been strong in Europe and Asia and provides us with
additional sales and marketing muscle, and very importantly, 17 service centers located
around the world. These service centers allow customers to resolve their product
issues in their existing location rather than sending them back to the United States.
We believe the long-term value and goodwill that CPI brings in this regard is literally
priceless. |
8. | How do the cultures of the two companies compare? Are there any major differences you
see that could be an impediment to integration? |
| CPIs origins go all the way back to 1948 when it was part of Varian Associates. In
1995, Varian sold its business to a private equity firm and since that time CPI has
been operating as a stand-alone business focused on developing and producing microwave
and power grid devices. |
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| We believe our operating cultures are quite similar. Both companies have relatively
small corporate staffs and have dedicated operating personnel. Both companies sell to
both commercial and military customers. As a result, we do not see impediments to
integration, and in fact, believe that our combined experience will benefit the overall
combined company. |
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9. | Are you planning any specific restructuring charges, and if so, what is your estimate
of the total charges? |
| Yes. Comtech expects to incur substantial merger and integration related expenses
that pursuant to newly adopted purchase accounting rules may no longer be capitalized
as part of the cost of the acquisition. |
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| These expenses are expected to include change-in-control related payments to be made
to certain CPI executives, the acceleration of certain unvested stock-based awards held
by CPI employees, and Comtechs professional fees to its financial and legal advisors.
Comtech preliminarily estimates these expenses will range from $18.0 million to $22.0
million, the majority of which are expected to be immediately expensed on the day the
transaction closes with the remainder expensed during the first year after the
acquisition. |
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| Comtech will provide definitive restructuring charges in a future announcement. |
10. | Will CPI senior management play any ongoing role in the combined company? |
| CPI senior management will continue to make all decisions related to CPIs business
until the transaction closes. |
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| After the acquisition is closed, Fred Kornberg will continue to be the President and
Chief Executive Officer of Comtech and Michael Porcelain will continue to be Senior
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Comtech. |
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| We are pleased to say that the CPI management team has agreed to join Comtech, and
will continue to manage the CPI business while working closely with our team to execute
an integration plan as expeditiously and effectively as possible. |
11. | Will any CPI directors join Comtechs Board? |
| No. |
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12. | CPIs revenues in fiscal 2008 were $370.0 million how fast do you expect the CPI
business to return to that level and what growth rates are you assuming they will achieve
in the future? |
| In February 2010, management of CPI provided public guidance that the Company
anticipated achieving revenue in fiscal 2010 between $360.0 million and $370.0
million. From our perspective, that guidance reflects CPI on a stand-alone basis
and reflected optimism about their end-markets and an assumption that commercial
markets would significantly improve. That guidance did not, of course, contemplate
subsequent events in the world markets such as the instability in the Euro zone and
elsewhere arising from the financial turmoil in Greece and Portugal. |
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| Once the acquisition closes, it is likely that there will be some minor
disruptions to the sales of CPI as customers wait for the certainty as it relates
to future product line plans. As a result, once CPI is combined with Comtech, we
believe the best indicator of future CPI sales is to look at the current run-rate
of CPIs sales based on annualized six-month actual sales results and order flow.
Thus, assuming the economy continues improving, we believe that it is more likely
that CPIs annual revenue run-rate would approximate $350.0 million and that it
will be able to grow from that level. Assuming no large program breakthroughs
related to CPIs innovative FLAPS-based antenna technology that is currently being
deployed to allow communication with UAVs, we believe CPI can grow on an annual
basis of approximately 3% per year. |
13. | Do you expect to be able to improve on CPIs recent financial performance to help pay
for the acquisition? |
| Looking out one year, we are comfortable that, working with CPI management, we will
be able to improve on CPIs stand-alone business performance. We believe that CPIs
global legal and tax structure is far too complicated for a company of CPIs size. Much
of CPIs structure was inherited by management as a result of their spin-off from
Varian. Given CPI managements understandable focus, since CPIs spin-off from Varian,
on debt-reduction and other operational matters, we see additional opportunities for
achieving operational efficiencies. |
| As part of our merger and integration plan, CPIs senior management and corporate
team are expected to stay in their current or similar roles and will work directly with
us to integrate and restructure CPIs global legal and tax structure into Comtechs. In
connection with the actions we would take, we believe it is reasonable to assume that
we will create significant annual recurring net synergies currently estimated to range
from $5.0 million to $7.0 million during the second year. We believe that it is
entirely possible that with additional time and focus, these numbers may prove to be
conservative. |
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14. | How much due diligence were you able to do? |
| We believe we did an appropriate due diligence review of CPIs business. Although
CPI is a publicly traded company that is audited by an outside accounting firm, we
retained our own high quality team of financial, legal and accounting advisors to
assist us with different aspects of the transaction. We engaged a special accounting
and tax team to review the financial information. We had key Comtech executives review
matters within their specific areas of expertise. We engaged other outside consultants,
as needed, to assist us. So we feel we did a thorough job evaluating this acquisition. |
15. | How will you be able to achieve the $5.0 million to $7.0 million of operating
synergies? |
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We believe we will be able to achieve synergies primarily by accomplishing the following: |
| Consolidating both Comtech and CPIs satellite amplifier related manufacturing
operations into one facility to drive lower operating costs; |
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| Combining both Comtechs and CPIs California-based satellite amplifier related
engineering operations and eliminating redundant overhead and administrative functions; |
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| Integrating Comtechs existing high-power switch manufacturing and engineering
facility, located in Massachusetts, with CPIs existing Massachusetts-based
manufacturing and engineering facility; |
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| Restructuring CPIs global tax and legal structure into Comtechs existing
structure; and |
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| Eliminating duplicative public company expenses and redundant functions. |
We believe that it is entirely possible that with additional time and focus, there will be
other opportunities to achieve operating synergies. |
16. | Considering that both companies are in the amplifier business, shouldnt you be able to
achieve more than $5.0 million to $7.0 million of operating synergies? |
| This combination is more about a bold expansion of our one-stop shopping approach
for our RF microwave amplifier segment than driving out costs. Nonetheless, we do
expect to generate annual synergies, excluding one-time merger and restructuring costs,
currently estimated to range from $5.0 million to $7.0 million beginning in the second
year. |
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17. | Why are you not anticipating any revenue synergies? |
| We believe that over time, we will be able to accelerate revenue growth of our
product lines as we capitalize on CPIs 17 sales and service centers and global sales
force. Because achievement of revenue synergies is difficult and is nearly impossible
to estimate, our acquisition model at this time assumes no revenue synergies. |
18. | Do you have the expertise and experience to manage such a huge acquisition? |
| Just 2 years ago, we successfully completed the Radyne acquisition which was the
largest acquisition in our history. Our entire senior management team, that executed
the Radyne acquisition, is ready to go and will be joined by the senior management team
of CPI. We are confident that we have the right team in place. |
19. | How accretive or dilutive is the transaction to earnings per share? |
| Because a portion of the purchase price to be paid to CPI shareholders is in the
form of Comtech common stock, purchase accounting rules require that some of the
charges and the value of CPIs intangible assets (including goodwill) be determined
based on the date the acquisition closes. As such, at this time, Comtech is unable to
determine the amount of annual amortization expected to be recorded either during the
first year of the acquisition or thereafter. However, excluding amortization of
intangibles associated with purchase accounting and merger and integration related
expenses, the acquisition is expected to be accretive in the first year of the
acquisition and significantly accretive beginning the second year. |
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| Due to the complexity of purchase accounting rules and the $18.0 million to $22.0
million of merger related charges we anticipate taking, we believe, for now, it is best
to focus on the incremental EBITDA that CPI will add. In this case, assuming CPI is
bringing approximately $350.0 million of revenue, we believe that CPI will generate
over $50.0 million of EBITDA on an annual basis. |
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| Comtech will provide specific revenue, EBITDA and earnings per share guidance in a
future announcement. |
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20. | What is the process from announcement to closing? When will the deal close? |
| The transaction is subject to customary conditions, including expiration of the
waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. |
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| In addition, CPI will call a shareholders meeting to vote on the transaction and
both Comtech and CPI will make related filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. |
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| Accordingly, the actual timing of the closing will be affected by the regulatory
agency processes. As such, although we anticipate that this process could range from
three to six months from todays announcement, it would be premature to provide a
specific date at this time. Once we have a better sense of timing, we will provide an
update of our expectations for closing. |
21. | Do you anticipate any anti-trust issues arising from this transaction? Do you
anticipate a second request? |
| We will make all of the appropriate regulatory filings and we have retained legal
counsel with strong experience to navigate us through this process. The process is in
its early stages and it would not be appropriate for us to speculate as to how it will
proceed. |
22. | Have you spoken to CPIs major shareholders? What is their view of the transaction? |
| CPIs majority shareholder, The Cypress Group (including related entities), is
supportive of the transaction. They have entered into a voting agreement subject to its
terms and conditions, to demonstrate their strong support of the proposed transaction. |
23. | Have you spoken with any of your shareholders? What is their reaction? |
| We announced the transaction this morning so we have not yet had an opportunity to
speak to our shareholders. |
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24. | Will CPI require a shareholder vote to approve this deal? Has CPI scheduled a shareholder
meeting regarding the transaction? Does Comtech need a shareholder vote? |
| Yes, CPI will require a shareholder vote, the timing and details of which will be
presented in their SEC filings. Comtech will not require a shareholder vote for this
transaction. |
25. | Under what circumstances would you terminate this transaction? |
| We are highly committed to this transaction, and intend to expeditiously complete
this transaction. As you know, merger agreements for public companies customarily
provide for termination rights of both parties under certain circumstances, none of
which are anticipated to occur here. |
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Four fiscal quarters ended | ||||
January 1, 2010 | ||||
Reconciliation of CPI GAAP Net Income to
CPI EBITDA(1) (2): |
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GAAP net income |
$ | 19,652,000 | ||
Interest, net |
16,405,000 | |||
Depreciation and amortization |
10,831,000 | |||
Income taxes |
6,976,000 | |||
Amortization of stock-based compensation |
2,788,000 | |||
Other |
(248,000 | ) | ||
EBITDA |
$ | 56,404,000 | ||
(1) | Represents earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization of
intangibles and stock-based compensation based on the EBITDA
calculation utilized by Comtech. |
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(2) | EBITDA is a non-GAAP operating metric used by Comtech in assessing CPIs operating
results. Comtechs definition of EBITDA may differ from the definition of EBITDA used by CPI
and other companies, and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other
companies. EBITDA is also a measure frequently requested by Comtechs investors and analysts.
Comtech believes that investors and analysts may use EBITDA, along with other information
contained in its SEC filings, in assessing its ability to generate
cash flow and service debt. |
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