ImageWare Systems Closes $1.5 Million Non-Convertible Debt Financing and Updates Business Developments
SAN DIEGO, CA, March 20, 2006 - ImageWare Systems, Inc. (AMEX: IW),
a leading developer and provider of identity management solutions, today announced the closing of a $1.5M, 8% one year non-convertible senior secured loan. The financing was led by Little Bear Investments LLC. Laidlaw & Co. acted as the placement agent for this debt financing. As part of the financing, the investors were issued 375,000, 5-year warrants to purchase ImageWare’s common stock at $2.30.
Zachary Prensky, managing director of Little Bear stated, “We are pleased to have led this deal. This is the third time Little Bear has participated in an ImageWare financing.”
“To date, ImageWare has made significant strides in developing the market for the Company’s IWS™ Biometric Engine®,” commented Jim Miller, chairman and CEO of ImageWare Systems. “Today we build upon that progress by putting in place a substantially non-dilutive, shareholder-friendly form of financing that should allow us to continue towards our goal of being the pre-eminent developer of secure credential, biometric, law enforcement and digital imaging solutions in the U.S. and across the globe. The structure of this debt – pre-payable at any time without penalty - gives us the flexibility we need to ramp up as new, and hopefully larger, contract wins for the IWS™ Biometric Engine® occur.”
About ImageWare Systems, Inc.
ImageWare Systems, Inc. (AMEX:IW), is a leading developer and provider of identity management solutions, providing biometric, secure credential, law enforcement and digital imaging technologies. Scalable for worldwide deployment, the Company's biometric product line includes a multi-biometric engine that is hardware and algorithm independent, enabling the enrollment and management of unlimited population sizes. ImageWare's identification products are used to manage and issue secure credentials including national IDs, passports, driver licenses, smart cards and access control credentials. ImageWare's digital booking products provide law enforcement with integrated mug shot, fingerprint Livescan and investigative capabilities. The Company also provides comprehensive digital workflow solutions for the professional photography industry. ImageWare is headquartered in San Diego, with offices in Washington DC and Canada. For more information visit www.iwsinc.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This news release may contain forward-looking statements made pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While these statements are meant to convey to the public the company's progress, business opportunities and growth prospects, readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements represent management's opinion. While management believes such representation to be true and accurate based on the information available to the company, actual results may differ materially from those described. The company's operations and business prospects are always subject to risks and uncertainties. Important facts that may cause actual results to differ are set forth in the company’s periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
