Company Plans to Expand Hospitality 360 Initiative With the Addition of Table Management, Call-Ahead Seating, Point-of-Sale and Enterprise Software Products
CHICAGO, May 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NTN Communications, Inc., (AMEX:NTN) a leader in interactive communications and entertainment products for the hospitality industry, today announced at the National Restaurant Association trade show in Chicago, that they have signed a letter of intent to acquire the assets and certain liabilities of Breakaway International, Inc., a privately held leading provider of restaurant industry software and hardware solutions.
Breakaway International, a 13-year old company headquartered in Arlington, Texas, currently develops and markets software solutions for the casual dining, fine dining, quick service and pizza delivery restaurant segments. Breakaway serves over 3,300 locations in 43 countries, including over 700 Domino's Pizza corporate-owned and franchised locations in the United States and internationally.
The acquisition is intended to strengthen NTN's rapidly growing Hospitality 360 initiative, designed to provide restaurant operators with the industry's most advanced integrated suite of customer management products. Breakaway would compliment NTN's strong existing product lines of interactive entertainment, guest/server paging products and stored-value gift and loyalty programs, with established and proven Windows-based products, including Breakaway VISION, their flagship point-of-sale solution; Breakaway ProHost, a wait list management/table management system; Breakaway RSViP, a reservation management system; and Breakaway Enterprise, their communications portal that allows restaurants to manage their operations through the web.
"This acquisition represents a significant step for NTN, as we continue our transformation from a provider of interactive trivia and sports entertainment, to one offering a complete suite of integrated services to the restaurant industry," said Mark deGorter, president and chief operating officer of the NTN Network division. "In addition to superb management, focused development and sales teams, and strong strategic relationships, Breakaway's products are well established in the industry, allowing us to truly connect the dots while giving us significant speed to market advantages and avoiding the setbacks associated with start-up and development concepts. And with Breakaway's Texas headquarters, we would now have a strong presence on the East Coast and Central United States as well as our California headquarters to support our focus on delivering the highest levels of customer service to the industry. We are delighted to have Breakaway International join NTN, as they can provide tremendous synergy and increase our relationships to nearly 10,000 location customers."
"We are very excited to join the NTN family and look forward to playing a major role in helping NTN fulfill its vision for the restaurant industry," said Gary Peek, president of Breakaway. "NTN's products and services are complementary to our own with almost no overlap. In addition, their reputation for great products and their strong marketing capabilities provide excellent opportunities for continued growth. Combining our experience and technologies enables us to create exciting new products and solutions for the hospitality industry."
The acquisition remains subject to a number of conditions, including completion of due diligence, negotiation of definitive documents, receipt of all corporate and regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.
NTN (booth #1241 and #5966) and Breakaway (#6266) will be demonstrating their products as well as the full suite of combined Hospitality 360 solutions in their booths at the National Restaurant Association trade show, May 17-20 at the McCormick Center in Chicago.
About NTN Communications, Inc.
Based in Carlsbad, CA, NTN Communications, Inc. is the parent corporation of the NTN Network(R) division and Buzztime Entertainment, Inc., a subsidiary. The NTN Network division, which focuses on the out-of-home hospitality industries, is comprised of the NTN Network and NTN Wireless Communications, Inc. The NTN Network is the largest out of home interactive television network in the world. Through NTN's Digital Interactive Television technology, the NTN Network broadcasts entertainment and sports programming engaging more than 1.7 million players and reaching more than 6 million unique customers each month in approximately 3,600 North American hospitality locations such as Applebee's, Bennigan's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Damon's Grill, TGIFriday's, and others. NTN Wireless(TM) manufactures, sells, and repairs paging equipment to over 2,800 restaurants, as well as providing on site messaging solutions for hospitals, church and synagogue nurseries, salons, business offices and retail establishments. NTN Wireless also offers enhanced stored-value gift certificate and loyalty programs to improve customer retention. NTN Wireless provides wireless solutions to leading restaurants such as Darden Restaurant's Olive Garden, Logan's Roadhouse, O'Charley's, and more. Buzztime Entertainment, Inc. produces BUZZTIME(R), the interactive television trivia channel, and live sports prediction games such as QB1(R) from its live interactive broadcast studio. Buzztime's partners include: Scientific-Atlanta, Inc., Liberate Technologies, Microsoft Corporation's MSN(R)TV and the National Football League.
About Breakaway International, Inc.
Breakaway International, Inc., designs, develops, and markets innovative software for the food service industry. Breakaway's primary products include: Breakaway VISION - restaurant management system; Breakaway Enterprise - enterprise management system; Breakaway ProHost - seating management system; and Breakaway RSViP - reservations management system. Breakaway software products are currently being used by more than 300 different companies in more than 3,300 locations in 43 countries. Breakaway customers include The Cheesecake Factory, Rainforest Cafe, Domino's Pizza, MGM Mirage, Tavern on the Green, Gaylord Entertainment, Charlie Trotter's and Bahama Breeze. For more information, visit http://www.breakawaynet.com or call 817-788-8888.
This release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to the success of the NTN Network(R) and the Hospitality 360 program and solutions and the acquisition and integration of Breakaway International's assets, which are subject to risks and uncertainties including the risks of changing economic conditions, product demand and market acceptance, the impact of competitive products and pricing, and other factors detailed in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including NTN's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2002. NTN disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
For further information, please contact John P. Salvador, Director, Investor Relations of NTN Communications, Inc., +1-888-752-9686, ext. 1180, John.Salvador@ntn.com .
Source: NTN Communications, Inc.
CONTACT: John P. Salvador, Director, Investor Relations of NTN
Communications, Inc., +1-888-752-9686, ext. 1180, John.Salvador@ntn.com
Web site: http://www.breakawaynet.com/
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