[South Florida DX Association] Letter from Dennis at Yeasu

[Bill Marx]

From: "Tony N2MFT"



>From Dennis, K7BV:
Friends,
By now, many of you may have heard that Vertex Standard Co., Ltd,
(Vertex Standard USA's parent company) announced that they have agreed
to form a collaborative joint venture with Motorola, Inc. I personally
believe the most important words in this sentence are "collaborative
joint venture" a business relationship that indicates a far different
outcome intent than the demise of one of the venture partners.

Since Yaesu is the Amateur Radio Division of Vertex Standard, I am
sure you are just as curious as me, a Yaesu employee with a job at
stake, to know what this business transaction will mean to all of us
in the hobby. Predictably, I see that the news about the pending new
Motorola relationship with Vertex Standard, hence Yaesu, is giving
life to all sorts of misinformation and "doomsday". Internet postings
by the usual cast of characters who always seem to know so much more
about things than the rest of us mere mortals. After studying public
announcements and considering the internal information that is made
available to me in my role as the leadership individual for North
American sales at Yaesu, I
would like to offer the following FACTS about this exciting
development. Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) will launch a tender offer to
acquire a controlling interest in Vertex Standard Co., Ltd. (JASDAQ:
6821). Upon successful completion of the tender offer and subsequent
restructuring process, Motorola will own 80% of Vertex Standard and
Toko Giken, a privately held Japanese company, controlled by Jun
Hasegawa, current president and CEO of Vertex Standard, will retain
20%, forming a joint venture. On 5 November 2007, the Board of
Directors of Vertex Standard expressed their support of the tender
offer. Yaesu, of course, as one of the Vertex Standard operations,
will be included in this exciting development.

I want our Yaesu customers and concerned others to know the following
about the proposed merger:

Vertex Standard (meaning Yaesu to us in the Amateur Radio hobby) will
remain a separate, global organization with distinct resources
governed by the Board of Directors comprised of four Motorola
representatives and one Toko Giken representative. Toko Giken is a
privately held Japanese company, controlled by the founder’s family.
It currently holds 29.2% shares of Vertex Standard.

Mr. Jun Hasegawa (my boss), son of Sato Hasegawa JA1MP, the founder of
Yaesu will continue to take part in the management of Vertex Standard
in his capacity as the Representative Director, President and CEO of
Vertex Standard after the Tender Offer. The day-to-day management of
the joint venture will be the responsibility of Mr. Hasegawa and his
senior leadership team, who are also expected to continue. Count me as
one of those who will continue with Yaesu. Our business will continue
to be operated as is, and we will continue to actively develop new
products and operate the business as a leading manufacturer of amateur
radio, marine, land mobile, and airband radios.

The Vertex Standard brand of equipment (Standard brand in Japan) will
continue to exist. The current Vertex Standard brand strategies are
highly respected by Motorola and will be continued. Since Motorola
appreciates our Yaesu brand strategy, there will be no change to it.

There will NOT be a Motorola brand of Amateur Radio equipment
replacing or competing with Yaesu.

Yaesu customers can expect to see positive benefit from the fact that:
Vertex Standard has an experienced engineering team that, combined
with Motorola's extensive engineering talent, will develop new
innovative products. Personally, I cannot wait to see what this joint
engineering effort will bring to Amateur Radio!

Cost synergies will be realized through the use of Motorola's buying
power to reduce the joint venture's costs for raw materials. Hams are
known to enjoy seeking out the best buy for their hard earned money -
expect to see Yaesu products remain highly competitive and providing
excellent value for your investment.

Because Mr. Hasegawa will continue to manage the day-to-day operations
of Vertex Standard, we do not expect to see changes in the existing
Yaesu dealership, pricing and rebate philosophies as a result of the
joint venture.

These are historic exciting times for Yaesu, our customers, and
Amateur Radio. The future is bright and the potential for incredible
technological advancements for Amateur Radio are immense. We are glad
you will be there with us as the positive affects of the Vertex
Standard / Motorola joint venture unfolds.

73,
Dennis Motschenbacher K7BV
k7bv at vxstdusa. com