Imation Acquired Connected Data for $7.5 Million

Imation Corp. announced that Bob Fernander, an existing member of the company’s board of directors, has been appointed as interim CEO, effective immediately.

Additionally, the company announced it has acquired substantially all of the equity of Connected Data, Inc., an emerging enterprise, private cloud sync and share company, in a transaction valued at approximately $7.5 million at closing.

The company intends to complete the acquisition of Connected Data through a short-form merger as soon as practicable.

Connected Data’s founder, CEO and current member of Imation’s board, Geoff Barrall, will join the company’s executive leadership team as CTO.

Separately, interim president Barry Kasoff has assumed the role of chief restructuring officer and will continue to work with Fernander to execute Imation’s restructuring plan.

“As an experienced professional with an established track record of building technology-based businesses, Bob is the right interim leader for Imation. He is deeply involved in the execution of the company-wide restructuring plan and has the skill set necessary to maximize the value of our storage businesses, which includes Nexsan, IronKey and now Connected Data,” said Joseph A. De Perio, non-executive COB. “Connected Data puts the company’s product roadmap on trend and boosts the enterprise value potential of all of Imation’s storage businesses. Geoff is an exceptional business builder, technologist and inventor, and Imation is fortunate to bring him on as an executive overseeing all of our storage strategies and development.“

Founded in 2012, Connected Data produces Transporter, an enterprise, private cloud sync and share line of appliances that offer a secure, on premise and cost efficient alternative to Dropbox. Connected Data’s patented technology creates a mobile data infrastructure that delivers public cloud features without the expense or security compromises of cloud services. Transporter solutions allow corporations to use existing storage infrastructure to achieve high performance cloud functionality. Transporter can be scaled and integrated with existing Imation product lines, and the acquisition augments Imation’s vision in delivering a comprehensive and secure storage, backup and collaboration ecosystem.

“Connected Data is a pioneering company and a significant acquisition for Imation that will place us at the forefront of the one of the fastest growing and most important sectors of technology. The Connected Data product line will be able to leverage the existing Nexsan sales infrastructure and channel relationships to boost sales and create a more comprehensive product offering,” said Fernander. “We are witnessing an increasing global demand for cost efficient, secure file synchronization to mobile devices, and Connected Data’s alignment with Imation’s SDMA (Secure Data Movement Architecture) will allow us to deliver industry leading private cloud solutions.”

Under the terms of the transaction, subject to certain adjustments, approximately $4.4 million of consideration will be paid in Imation common stock at an issue price of $2.75 per share, approximately $0.5 million will be paid in cash, and approximately $2.6 million in debt will be paid off by the company. Up to $5 million in cash and shares in earn outs are possible based upon Connected Data’s performance through 2016 and the first half of 2017. Connected Data is projected to have over $7 million in standalone revenue in 2016, and the transaction will be immediately accretive to Imation.

Barrall, CTO, commented: “We are proud of what we have built at Connected Data. Our innovative product line represents a major disruption in the field of file sync and share as customers look for cost effectiveness and maximum security. Coming under the Imation umbrella is a logical extension of our evolution and will drive significant synergies and efficiencies across the organization.“

The transaction was approved by the company’s audit committee pursuant to the board’s Related Party Transaction Policy and by the disinterested directors, after receiving a fairness opinion that the transaction was fair, from a financial point of view, to the company.

Imation’s board and executive team will also continue to work closely with its advisors to drive change within the company and explore strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value, including, but not limited to, divestitures of its non-core and non-operating assets.

To that end, the Strategic Alternatives Committee was formed in August 2015 to work with management and make recommendations to the board. It has also been tasked with (i) examining opportunities to invest the company’s excess cash and (ii) formulating strategies to maximize the value of the company’s investments and assets, such as its owned common stock in Sphere3D Corporation.

As of September 30, 2015, Imation’s total cash balance is expected to be at least $85 million, and the corporate-wide restructuring plan is expected to be mainly completed by January 1, 2016.