PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Aricent, a full-service, full-spectrum communications software company, debuts today, offering an unrivaled portfolio of software services and products for the communications industry. With its launch, Aricent sets the standard for designing, developing and maintaining software that enables communications equipment manufacturers, device manufacturers and service providers to improve time-to-revenue and maximize efficiency.

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Aricent, previously the software development and solutions business of Flextronics International Ltd., is introducing its new name following the acquisition of 85% of the business on September 4, 2006 by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) and Sequoia Capital. Flextronics retains 15% ownership. The transaction valued the entire business at approximately $900 million.

Aricent's proven track record builds on the success of its predecessor, Hughes Software Systems, which was established in 1991. The company became Flextronics Software Systems in 2004, when it and other assets were acquired by Flextronics. frog design, the leading strategic, creative consulting firm, was acquired by Flextronics in 2004 and has been part of the software development and solutions business since the summer of 2005. It will continue to operate as an independent division of Aricent. For almost four decades, frog design has identified emerging market opportunities and transformed ideas into compelling products and services that billions of people experience and enjoy every day.

"Communications technologies have grown increasingly complex, and consumers expect to communicate easily anywhere and at anytime," said Ashish (Ash) Bhardwaj, Aricent's chief executive officer. "These competing forces prompted all segments of the communications ecosystem to demand a software specialist with superior skills, speed and scale. Aricent is that communications software pure-play."

"One of Aricent's clear differentiators is the quality of its people," said Michael E. Marks, a member of KKR and chairman of Aricent's board of directors. "Developing software that ranges from complex applications on end-user devices to management of the network core requires an outstanding organization that hires only the best and brightest. Aricent has long been recognized as a great place to work, where the top talent comes to solve the most difficult software problems faced by the entire communications industry."

Aricent has over 6,700 employees in 25 offices throughout 13 countries. Aricent will be led by Bhardwaj and a management team that includes Duncan Robertson, chief financial officer; Manoranjan Mohapatra, president and chief operating officer of the software division; Doreen Lorenzo, president and chief operating officer of frog design; and Sanjay Dhawan, executive vice president and chief strategy officer.

"Aricent is a unique company in an enviable position," said Michael Moritz, a partner at Sequoia Capital and an Aricent board member. "The communications industry is reaching a new stage where long-time technology leaders are looking to shorten time-to-market and maximize efficiency by augmenting their software R&D organizations. Aricent has capitalized on the changing dynamics of the market, and I expect its impressive growth to accelerate in the coming years."

About Aricent

With corporate offices in Palo Alto, California, Aricent is a full-service, fullspectrum communications software company. Aricent offers software services and products that enable the world's leading communications equipment manufacturers, device manufacturers and service providers to improve time-to-revenue and maximize efficiency. Owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Sequoia Capital and Flextronics International Ltd., Aricent has more than 350 clients worldwide, including Airtel, Alcatel, Cisco Systems, Ericsson, Inmarsat, Juniper, Lucent, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Texas Instruments, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone. For more information, visit http://www.aricent.com/.

About KKR

KKR is one of the world's oldest and most experienced private equity firms specializing in management buyouts, with offices in New York, Menlo Park, California, London, Paris, Hong Kong and Tokyo. In recent years KKR has participated in several of the largest private equity technology investments in history, including SunGard Data Systems, NXP Semiconductors and Avago Technologies. Other KKR technology industry investments include: Amphenol, NXP Semiconductors, RELTEC, Wincor Nixdorf, Tenovis and Zhone Technologies. Over the past thirty years, KKR has invested in more than 145 transactions with a total value of US$230 billion. For more information, please visit http://www.kkr.com/.

About Sequoia Capital

Since 1972, Sequoia Capital has provided early and growth stage capital to founders and executives who have turned ideas into companies of enduring value. As the "Entrepreneurs Behind the Entrepreneurs", Sequoia Capital's Partners have worked with accomplished innovators and operators who have built companies such as Apple Computer, Cisco Systems, Flextronics, Google, Informix, Linear Technology, LSI Logic, Microchip, NetScaler, NetScreen, Network Appliance, nVidia, Oracle, PayPal, Yahoo! and YouTube. To learn more about Sequoia Capital visit http://www.sequoiacap.com/.

Aricent is a trademark of Aricent, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

CONTACT: Jashojit "Jojo" Roy, Aricent, +1-650-391-1605,
jojo.roy@flextronics.com; Laura Borgstede, Calysto Communications,
+1-404-266-2060, lborgstede@calysto.com; Nicola Garvin, AxiCom,
+44-208-392-4067, Mobile - +44-7725-761-449, nicola.garvin@axicom.com

Web site: http://www.aricent.com/
http://www.kkr.com/
http://www.sequoiacap.com/