Sequans Secures New Financing of $28 Million

Business Wire, Feb 11, 2008

Reliance Technology Ventures Limited and Swisscom Among New Backers of Leading WiMAX Chipmaker

PARIS & CUPERTINO, Calif. -- SEQUANS Communications, a leading supplier of fixed and mobile WiMAX chips, has raised 28 million USD in a new round of equity-based and convertible debt financing. Major telecom operator Swisscom, and Reliance Technology Ventures Limited, the corporate venture capital arm of Reliance ADA Group of India join private equity firm CDC Enterprises, through the France investment program, as new Sequans minority investors, and European investment bank NATIXIS is the primary participant in the convertible debt financing.

"2008 will be a pivotal year for the WiMAX industry and for Sequans as WiMAX networks launch and multiply," said Georges Karam, Sequans CEO. "We will use our new funding to strengthen our foothold in the market, expand our international customer support centers and launch our next wave of chips in order to maintain our technology leadership. Our new investors are of key strategic importance to us. Swisscom and Reliance bring us the operator perspective on the deployment of WIMAX in Europe and Asia, complementing the roles of our existing strategic investors, equipment vendors Motorola and Alcatel-Lucent. We expect this financing will carry us over until we are ready for an IPO."

"Sequans' leadership in WiMAX is no accident," said Nadia Sarri of CDC Enterprises. "They have executed extremely well on an aggressive strategy and have excelled in both product development and market penetration in one of the most promising new markets. We are very impressed with what Sequans has accomplished in four years with relatively little capital."

"Sequans' technology will enable operators to deliver valuable, yet low-cost WiMAX services in developing markets," said Harshal Shah, CEO of Reliance Technology Ventures Limited. "Sequans' extremely efficient WiMAX chip solutions could be instrumental in making the WiMAX promise a reality in developing markets like India."

"We are thrilled to be contributing to the success of Sequans," said Jean-Francois Tine, head of Equity Capital Markets at NATIXIS. "Our sector experience in telecom and technology has allowed us to identify Sequans' huge potential. We are pleased to demonstrate our confidence in the management of Sequans and its growth plan through this new round of funding, which was specifically structured for Sequans by our team."

Over the last four years, Sequans has delivered base station and subscriber station baseband chip solutions for fixed WiMAX and Mobile WiMAX (both Wave 1 and 2) and an RF chip for Mobile WiMAX. Sequans' chips are today embedded in the leading WiMAX networks and devices.

About Sequans

SEQUANS Communications is a leading supplier of subscriber station and base station chips for both fixed and mobile WiMAX, based on IEEE 802.16 standards. Sequans offers equipment manufacturers an all-in-one solution with full MAC and PHY functionality, enabling them to build a wide range of high performing WiMAX network components: femto, pico, micro and multi-sector macro base stations, outdoor and indoor subscriber terminals, home gateways, and all types of mobile devices. www.sequans.com