Verbatim Expands External Storage Offerings

July 9, 2007: Verbatim is making the jump into the external hard disk market with the purchase of SmartDisk and its hard drive and imaging business.

Bought for an undisclosed sum by Verbatim and its parent company Mitsubishi Kagaku Media (MKM), the acquisition of SmartDisk’s hard drive and digital imaging technology will augment Verbatim’s current line of storage products and help it build upon its share of the portable drive market (16 percent in the US for 2006 according to the NPD Group).

“The acquisition of SmartDisk’s external and portable hard drive business assets is complementary to Verbatim’s existing business,” said Shigenori Otsuka, president of MKM. “Plans are already underway to leverage these assets and Verbatim's heritage to quickly extend our global leadership in the removable storage and related accessories markets.

“Today’s consumers and business professionals need the full range of removable and portable storage options – hard disk, optical and flash. Now, we can meet all of their storage requirements with a complete family of highly reliable, technically advanced solutions that are also cost-effective.”

The acquisition, which includes physical assets, patents, trademarks, technology, engineering and marketing expertise, was effective on June 30, 2007.

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