Cleary Gottlieb represented the managers, led by Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), in the initial public offering by Advanced Digital Broadcast Holdings SA (ADB), of 1.5 million of its registered shares on the SWX Swiss Exchange. CSFB and the other managers have the option to purchase up to an additional 292,847 registered shares from ADB. Additionally, ADB’s four founding shareholders sold a total of 432,353 registered shares. Proceeds were approximately CHF 100 million.
ADB is a leading designer of the set-top boxes and software required for a household to receive digital television signals over any broadcast medium. ADB’s customers include important cable, satellite and terrestrial television broadcasters in various countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. ADB has recently signed agreements with Charter Communications, the nation’s third-largest cable operator, to test ADB’s products in the United States. ADB was founded in 1995. Before the offering, ADB was owned privately by its founders and other employees.