NEW YORK-Casio Inc., Dover, N.J., the American subsidiary of Tokyo-based Casio Computer Co. Ltd., has made a $5 million investment in iAnywhere Solutions Inc., a division of Sybase Inc.
Casio, which makes handheld computers and has developed an encryption technology to compete with that of Certicom Corp., received convertible preferred stock, which it will be able to swap one-for-one if iAnywhere goes public.
“Casio is making aggressive efforts to expand its Mobile Network Solutions business, both by developing devices with competitive features and (by) pursuing strategic alliances with key industry players,” said Kazuo Kashio, president of Casio Computer Co.
IAnywhere, headquartered in Emeryville, Calif., develops solutions to manage corporate databases for access by mobile workers and to synchronize that information with the wireless devices used by employees who are outside their offices.
“Casio’s investment in iAnywhere Solutions will mark a significant milestone in Sybase’s ongoing strategy to team with industry leaders to boost our presence in high-growth markets, such as mobile and wireless computing, e-business portals and vertical solutions,” said John Chen, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Sybase.
Casio has not required any minimum sales revenues as a condition of making the investment in iAnywhere. Last year, Casio sold 600,000 pocket computers worldwide, and it expects to sell 800,000 this year.
Sybase has an enterprise value estimated at $500 million, so Casio’s $5 million investment in iAnywhere represents a stake of approximately 1 percent. Sybase executives said during a conference call they had not yet decided on upper limit of outside investment they would seek, but that 10 percent seemed about right as a maximum.
Casio will engage in a technology transfer to iAnywhere of its encryption algorithms, which must receive approvals in the United States before deployment. It also will collaborate with iAnywhere on marketing efforts and development of new mobile solutions geared to corporate enterprises.
The agreement, which will exploit market opportunities for data-only wireless devices, is not exclusive for either company. Although the companies do not seek to participate in the wireless voice communications market, Casio sells pocket computers with integrated radio-frequency antennas in Europe and Japan. Casio and iAnywhere are in discussions with undisclosed U.S. wireless operators about a future rollout here of those kinds of devices and services, company executives said during the conference call.
Casio and iAnywhere companies already are engaged in joint marketing and delivery of mobile business solutions, targeting financial services, healthcare and sales force and field-force automation. Casio embeds iAnywhere’s SQL Anywhere Studio into its handheld computers, including the Cassiopeia EG-800 and the IT-70/IT-700. The SQL Anywhere Studio is a database and enterprise synchronization technology.
IAnywhere also is developing applications for Casio devices that are based on iAnywhere m-Business Studio, a software package for extending the reach of electronic business applications, enterprise data and Internet content to mobile and wireless devices.
