Business Briefs: Be Media, Cogent Systems, Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin

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Magic Media Networks Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has signed a letter of intent to buy privately held


Be Media

, an El Segundo-based system integration company. An agreement is expected within 90 days. Through its wholly owned subsidiary Destination Television, Magic Media owns Bar TV, Gym TV, and Hotel TV, which are private television and digital signage networks. The networks are displayed in high-traffic leisure destinations.


When the sale is complete, Magic’s headquarters will move to El Segundo, and Be Media will join Destination Television as a wholly owned subsidiary of Magic Media. Mohammad R. Ahmadi, founder and president of Be Media, will replace Gordon Scott Venters as president and chief executive, and Venters will become chairman.



– Cogent Systems

, a South Pasadena-based manufacturer of fingerprint identification systems, announced it won a $34 million contract for a criminal and civil I.D. program in Morocco. The contract covers software, hardware, service and maintenance for the system. Cogent systems allow electronic recording of fingerprints so that images can be encoded into searchable files and compared.



– Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin

said it plans to open a Paris office and bolster its staff to 700 by the end of 2005, a 16 percent increase for the year. The Paris office, Houlihan Lokey’s first in continental Europe, will open by August. The L.A.-based adviser on U.S. mergers smaller than $500 million currently has eight offices in the U.S. and one in London.

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