D.H. Brown Associates Agrees to Acquisition by Ideas International

Business Wire, Oct 28, 2003

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

PORT CHESTER, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 28, 2003

Newly Combined Company Will Offer Comprehensive, In-Depth Research

and Analysis on IT Infrastructure Space

D.H. Brown Associates, Inc. (DHBA), a privately held research firm specializing in hardware and applications used for building enterprise-wide IT infrastructures and product lifecycle management technologies, has agreed to be acquired by Australian-based Ideas International (ASX:IDE), a leader in comparative and pricing analysis for a wide range of server, storage, SAN, PC, and database products. The acquisition is subject to due diligence investigation and contract finalization, both expected to be completed by December 31, 2003. The acquisition consists of a mix of cash and stock of undisclosed value.

The newly combined company will offer technology vendors and enterprise technology managers the most comprehensive research, competitive comparisons, and pricing analysis available for the IT infrastructure market. The combined company's coverage will span systems software, hardware, operating systems, middleware, storage, and database technologies.

The acquisition will expedite the North American expansion of Ideas International, whose customers include IBM, Sun, HP, EMC and other top U.S. technology vendors. With existing offices in Europe and Asia Pacific, the acquisition uniquely positions the combined company to support the research, competitive analysis, and consulting needs of global organizations.

"D. H. Brown Associates is a well-regarded and high-profile research brand in the U.S. high tech industry. Its in-depth strategic analysis, combined with our decision support database with detailed feature, function, and pricing data, will provide clients with expert insights into the IT infrastructure market that simply can't be matched by any other research company," said Ian Birks, chief executive officer of Ideas International.

"Idea's decision support database is used every day by thousands of IT professionals worldwide. This desktop presence significantly extends the reach for our own research," said Don Brown, chairman and founder of D.H. Brown Associates.

"No other research organization can provide the tactical and strategic insight the combined company will offer to help companies make infrastructure investment decisions," said Charles S. Bacharach, executive vice president and general manager of D.H. Brown's technology research group.

The D.H. Brown Associates brand will be retained and incorporated in the Ideas International product and service portfolio.

Already largely independent of the information technology research group, D. H. Brown's product lifecycle management research team will become a separate organization led by Don Brown subsequent to the acquisition. This move will enable Mr. Brown to continue to direct the product lifecycle management business, foster its thought leadership in the market, and serve the unique needs of its customer base. Additional details of the new organization will be available upon finalization of the contract.

"We are confident that this acquisition will be a highly positive one for the future valuation of Ideas International. It comes at a time when the market is seeing new investments in IT infrastructure. Ideas International is poised to capitalize on this trend," said Len Rust, chairman of Ideas International.

About Ideas International (http://www.ideasinternational.com)

Ideas International (ASX:IDE) is the leading provider of comparative product and pricing data to IT vendors and purchasers worldwide. The company's customers include IBM, Sun, HP, and EMC and other top global technology vendors of computer systems and storage equipment.

IDEAS research offers detailed product-by-product comparisons of servers, workstations, desktop PCs, notebooks, personal digital assistants (PDAs), storage devices, service and warranty information, and cost of ownership. Its decision support database contains details on more than 10,000 products spanning 30 currencies, researched over 14 years.

The company was founded in 1981 and has offices in Sydney, Denver, and Oxfordshire, England.

About D. H. Brown Associates, Inc. (http://www.dhbrown.com)

Located in Port Chester, NY, D.H. Brown Associates, Inc. is a leading research and consulting firm that provides strategic analysis, assessment, and evaluation of technologies, products, and market trends in the information industry. Research focuses on the hardware and applications used for enterprise IT infrastructures, encompassing servers and workstations, storage solutions, operating systems, systems software, and web applications. The company also has a specialized research team dedicated to covering the tools, technologies and business processes associated with effective product lifecycle management

Recent representative research produced by D.H. Brown includes a review of Linux 2003 functionality, assessments of Windows Server 2003 and WebSphere Application Server v5, and an in-depth comparison of J2EE and Microsoft.NET.