THE ANATOMY OF A MANAGEMENT BUY-OUT

摘要

The business known today as the Virtalis Group of companies was originally set up in the late 1980s as the UK's National Advanced Robotics Research Centre in Salford, supported by the University, the DTI and a range of industrial shareholders. After a successful period of developing both hardware and software products, including the world's first tactile feedback glove systems for VR and telepresence applications, the Robotics Centre became commercial, launching VR Solutions Limited. In 1997, VR Solutions merged with Virtual Presence Limited ('VP'), a London-based hardware supplier, a significant move as it combined the technical excellence of the software development and consultancy teams with the necessary hardware to deliver complete solutions.