Ezenia! Inc. Announces Settlement With Stockholder Group and Appointment of Independent Directors

NASHUA, N.H., July 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ezenia! Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: EZEN), a leading market provider of real-time situation awareness, command and control solutions for corporate and government networks, today announced that it has reached an agreement with the stockholder group led by North & Webster, to settle their potential proxy contest related to Ezenia!'s 2010 annual meeting of stockholders.  As part of the settlement agreement, North & Webster has withdrawn its stockholder nominations and will cease all efforts to nominate or elect its nominees to the Ezenia! Board of Directors in connection with the 2010 annual meeting.

Ezenia! will not be adding any of North & Webster's nominees to the Board of Directors at this time, but instead North & Webster will have the right to appoint Samuel A. Kidston or another nominee to the Board in January 2011 in the event that Ezenia! does not meet the revenue and operating income targets in its operating budget for fiscal year 2010.  A summary of the settlement agreement will be included in Ezenia!'s current report on Form 8-K to be filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Given the resolution of the potential proxy contest, Ezenia! has set the date for its 2010 annual meeting of stockholders.  The annual meeting will take place on Monday, July 26, 2010, with Ezenia! stockholders of record as of the close of business on May 27, 2010 being entitled to vote at the meeting.  

Ezenia! also announced that it has increased the size of its Board of Directors from five to seven directors, and that Peter Janke and Larry Snyder have been appointed as Class I directors, to hold office until the 2011 annual meeting of stockholders.  Messrs. Janke and Snyder will serve as additional independent directors, and are not affiliated with the North & Webster stockholder group.

Peter Janke is the Executive Vice President of the Seneca Group, LLC where he launched a consulting practice in corporate restructuring and revitalization.  He has served as CEO of a $40 million client company in a turnaround situation and successfully stabilized it within nine months.  Mr. Janke also served as the Chief Operating Officer of Raytheon Information Solutions where he assumed operating control of $300 million Federal Information Technology business scattered among several business units and was chartered to consolidate contracts, business practices, personnel and market strategies.  He was also the Senior Vice President of Business Development at STG, Inc. and the Senior Vice President of Marketing & Sales at Litton Information Systems Group.  Mr. Janke earned a MA at Georgetown, a BA at the University of Wisconsin and has attended the Executive Education Programs at the Harvard Business School.  Mr. Janke is a Vietnam veteran who served in the US Air Force and carries a current Top Secret clearance.

Larry Snyder is the Managing Director and principal of Quinault Capital, LLC, a privately held investment banking and consulting firm. Prior to co-founding Quinault Capital, Mr. Snyder was managing director at CRT Capital, an investment banking firm based in Connecticut. His investment experience spans a total of 34 years in financial management, which includes 4 years at Merrill Lynch, 24 years at Refco, and 2 years at Pali Capital.  At Refco, he directed the implementation of corporate and union pension securities in excess of $100 billion.  Refco's Pension Investment Monitoring and Evaluation Services portfolios were $400 million to $20 billion in asset size.  He previously served on the Washington State University's Business School Board for over 15 years and Eton Technical Institute's Board of Directors for 12 years. His professional licenses include Series 3, 6, 7, 24, 26 and 63.  Mr. Snyder majored in finance at Montana State University and at Washington State University.

"As members of the Ezenia! Board of Directors, Messrs. Janke and Snyder's background will provide valuable guidance as the company expands its presence in the Government and Commercial Sectors," said Khoa Nguyen, Ezenia! Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "I am excited about the prospect of Messrs. Janke and Snyder providing Ezenia! with the insight, experience, and wisdom to help the company navigate through ever increasingly complex markets and achieve its growth objectives."

About Ezenia! Inc.

Ezenia! Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: EZEN), founded in 1991, is a leading provider of real-time collaboration solutions, bringing new and valuable levels of interaction and collaboration to corporate networks and Internet.  By integrating voice, video and data collaboration, the Company's award-winning products enable groups to interact through a natural meeting experience regardless of geographic distance.  Ezenia! products allow dispersed groups to work together in real-time using powerful capabilities such as instant audio and text chat, white boarding, screen sharing and secure file storage.  The ability to discuss projects, share information, and modify documents allows users to significantly improve team communication, enhance overall situational awareness and accelerate the decision-making process.  More information about Ezenia! Inc. and its product and service offerings can be found at the company's Web site, http://www.ezenia.com.

Note to Investors Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Statements included herein that are not historical facts may be considered forward-looking statements. You can identify these forward-looking statements by use of the words "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," "projects," "intends," "plans," "will," "may," and similar words.  Such forward-looking statements, which include statements regarding the Company's strategic and financial plans, involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements.  These risks and uncertainties include the considerations that are discussed in Ezenia!'s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, such as the evolution of Ezenia!'s market; dependence on the United States government as its largest customer and on other major customers; continued funding of defense programs by the United States government and the timing of such funding; uncertainties associated with procurement processes and on-going bidding activities for government programs; rapid technological change and competition within the collaborative software market; Ezenia!'s reliance on third-party technology; protection of its propriety technology; customer acceptance of InfoWorkSpace and other new products, including the acceptance of Ezenia!'s products in the commercial market; retention of key employees; stock price volatility; Ezenia!'s history of liquidity concerns and operating losses; and other considerations that are discussed further in such report.  You should not place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made.  Ezenia! disclaims any obligation to update forward-looking statements after the date of such statements.

SOURCE Ezenia! Inc.