Argogroup Acquires ACTeSys For A Cash Deal Of $4m




Strategic purchase creates new global leader in active testing of mobile services.

Surrey, UK, -/January 17, 2006 - Wi-Fi Technology News/- Argo Interactive Group Plc (Argogroup) today announces the acquisition of ACTeSys GmbH for a cash deal of $4m for all the share capital of the company.

Argogroup is a market leader in User Experience Optimization for mobile services, offering testing and monitoring solutions to mobile operators around the world. ACTeSys offers hardware-based solutions for end-to-end network and service testing. The merged company, which will trade under the Argogroup name, will offer a complete suite of end-to-end testing and monitoring solutions.

The company will immediately offer new appliance products that combine Argogroup's active test software with the world-leading ACTeSys hardware.

"This is a strategic purchase of a highly-regarded company with perfectly complementary product lines and skill-sets," said David Frodsham, Argogroup CEO, "ACTeSys is great at engineering stable and scalable hardware while Argogroup brings expertise in application test software and a global sales reach. In this case, one plus one equals three."

The acquisition will solidify the combined company's position as world-wide market and technology leader in the burgeoning active test industry. David Frodsham will continue as CEO while Thomas Renz, former CEO of ACTeSys, will head up the monitoring business.

"Both Argogroup and ACTeSys have been very successful businesses, both commercially and technically," said Thomas Renz, "With such complementary product lines, the combination makes perfect sense. The entire ACTeSys team looks forward to getting our significantly enhanced new products to customers."

New appliances deliver best of both worlds.
The combination of Argogroup software and ACTeSys hardware delivers world-class products at extremely competitive price points. Specifically, the new products will offer:

. Active Test appliances that are easy to install, use and maintain
. The greatest breadth of functionality and flexibility on the market
. Support for advanced mobile protocols such as WAP, i-Mode, Java, BREW, Video Streaming, Video Calling, Instant Messaging, Push-to-Talk and other strategic Value Added Services

"ACTeSys's hardware appliances are designed to use real mobile phones for testing, which helps Argogroup move towards measuring the user experience on real handsets as well as via simulation," says James Pearce, Argogroup CTO.

Existing Argogroup and ACTeSys customers will be offered an easy migration path to the new combined offer.

About Argogroup
. World leader in User Experience Optimization
. Solution Sets in Application Assurance, Service Monitoring and Handset Testing
. Over 55 mobile operator customers worldwide
. Winner of GSM Association Technology & Innovation Award
. 54 employees (now 68)
. Privately held with investors including Apax and 3i

About ACTeSys
. Leader in active test hardware for mobile operators
. Solutions in stress and stability testing, coverage verification, and quality of service
. 14 employees based in Stuttgart
. Privately held

About the integration
. No redundancies anticipated
. Integration plan to be implemented in coming weeks
. Combined company has offices in London, Stuttgart, Paris, Milan, Stockholm, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Charlotte, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Kuala Lumpur.