Kuhn Capital Advises Powel ASA on Merger with MiniMax

Kuhn Capital announced today that -- on behalf of its Norwegian client, Powel ASA -- it has concluded Powels merger with Minneapolis-based MiniMax Corporation, terms undisclosed

CHICAGO, IL (PRWEB) January 22, 2005 -- Kuhn Capital announced today that it has, on behalf of its Norwegian client, Powel ASA, concluded Powels merger with Minneapolis-based MiniMax Corporation, terms undisclosed.

Powel, employing 160 before the transaction, is one of Europes leading vendors of transmission and distribution management software for energy utilities. MiniMax applications are also used by utilities, but to automate the planning and construction of field facilities like substations. The deal will result in MiniMax combining operations with Powel Group, a former Powel North American subsidiary, in an entity named Powel-MiniMax.

"Our search for a strategic partner for Powel culminated in a strong match between the company and MiniMax." said Ryan Kuhn, a Kuhn Capital principal. "Adding MiniMaxs field facilities construction and work management capabilities to Powels office-based network and asset management applications means that their utility clients may now access a single platform for planning, design, operations and maintenance."

About Kuhn Capital
Based in Lake Forest, IL, Kuhn Capital has for 20 years provided M&A advisory services to companies that leverage information technology and intellectual property -- software, data, publishing, Internet, research, and consulting firms. The firm has initiated a number of energy industry IT deals in the last few years, among them the sale of Xenergy to KEMA and the sale of ESI, an ICF Consulting unit, to Nexus Energy. Other Kuhn Capital clients have been Perficient, RDI (since sold to Platts), Energy East, SBC (Ameritech), Sony, Connecticut Natural Gas, and Cognizant Technologies. For more see www.kuhncap.com.

About Powel
Powel ASA, founded in 1996, was created from the Norwegian Institute for Scientific and Industrial Research (SINTEF) to make SINTEF's extensive research commercially available to the energy industry. Since then Powel has become the dominant provider of energy software and related services in Scandinavia, and in addition serves clients in Europe, North American and the Pacific Rim. The companys lead product, NetBas, helps distribution utilities analyze, plan and manage assets and operations. For more see www.powel.com.

About MiniMax
Also founded in 1996, MiniMax is an industy leader in work order automation and staking (field design) software. StakeOut, the companys flagship application, automates the utility work order process from field design to close-out. For more see www.powelminimax.com.

Contact:
Dianne Salam, Kuhn Capital
847/457-2400

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