C-Chip to acquire Unique Security for $1.3M

June 3, 2004 MONTREAL ­ C-Chip Technologies, a publicly held provider of products and services that enable remote access management, has signed a letter of intent to acquire Montreal-based Unique Security, a privately held monitoring firm. The primarily stock deal, which is expected to close by the end of the summer, is valued at nearly $1.31 million. As a result of the deal, C-Chip will enter the Automatic Vehicle Location market, a segment of the monitoring industry that involves tracking stolen vehicles owned by individuals and organizations. The service involves alerting owners of theft and contacting local police departments as well as providing information about individual incidents to applicable insurance companies. Unique Security is profitable and reported approximately $3.7 million in revenue for its fiscal year ending August 2003. The company operates a U.L.C.-certified central station and has more than 6,000 commercial and residential subscribers. President Jean-Guy Vandal started Unique Security in 1974, with three partners. At the time, Vandal and one other partner served as detective sergeants for the police department in Montreal. Vandal, who retired from the police department three years later, eventually bought out two of the stakeholders. In 1996, he became the sole owner of the company when the only remaining partner died. Vandal, 66, will remain president of Unique Security, which becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of C-Chip. Despite his age he does not expect to retire. “I don’t want to stop working,” he says. His son Patrick, 35, who joined the company in 1997, will continue to serve as vice president once the deal is finalized. Stephane Solis, president and chief executive officer of C-Chip, will remain in the same role at the company. C-Chip develops products for use in credit management, security and asset protection applications. Targeted users of its products include credit grantors, insurance companies, leasing and renting firms.