21st Jun 2005 07:00
Next Fifteen Communications Grp PLC21 June 2005 Next Fifteen Communications Group plc 21 June 2005 Next Fifteen Acquires OutCast Communications following successful Vendor Placing Award-Winning US Technology PR Consultancy Extends Next Fifteen's Leadership inTechnology Sector Next Fifteen Communications Group plc ("Next Fifteen"), which is already theholding company of two of the world's top technology PR consultancies, Text 100and Bite Communications, announces that it has acquired one of the mostrespected technology PR firms operating in North America, OutCast Communications("OutCast"). With offices in San Francisco and New York, OutCast's clientsinclude major technology businesses such as Dell Enterprise Products Group,Yahoo!, Mercury, EMC, VMware and salesforce.com, as well as emerging technologycompanies such as Blinkx, Fortify Software and Oakley Networks. Under the terms of the acquisition, Next Fifteen will pay initial considerationof £3.3 million ($6 million) for OutCast, which is to be funded out of existingcash and debt facilities and a vendor placing which raised £2.5 million.Further consideration will be paid over the next five years based on theperformance of the company, with total consideration capped at £7.2 million ($13million). Under the deal, OutCast will continue to operate as a separatebusiness under its own brand name, with its founders Caryn Marooney and MargitWennmachers becoming co-Presidents of the business. As Presidents they willreport directly to Next Fifteen's Chief Executive Officer, Tim Dyson. Tim Dyson said: "Next Fifteen is keen to build a Group that comprisesbest-in-class consultancies. We have long been impressed with the way OutCasthas approached this sector and have enjoyed competing with them over the years.OutCast has built a great team of consultants that have together built a greatbusiness. We look forward to working with them during the next stage in theirdevelopment." OutCast Communications was founded in San Francisco in 1997. In recent years ithas experienced strong growth, with sales in 2004 increasing 28% over theprevious year to $6.2 million. Operating profits in the same year were $1.6million. The firm has also won a string of awards including PR Week's BoutiqueAgency of the Year award in 2001 and PR Week's award for Technology Campaign ofthe Year in both 2003 and 2005. In conjunction with the acquisition, Next Fifteen has completed a vendor placingof 4,807,693 ordinary shares of 2.5 pence each at 52 pence per share, to raise£2.5 million. About Outcast Communications OutCast's mission is to provide unparalleled public relations services to thebest and brightest technology companies within an environment where its group oftalented, aggressive and connected employees can deliver the highest level ofcustomer service and unprecedented results. OutCast has offices in SanFrancisco, California, and New York City, and can be found online atwww.outcastpr.com. About Next Fifteen Next Fifteen Communications Group is a holding company for a number of worldleading PR and marketing services firms. The majority of clients are in thetechnology industry with twelve of the world's top twenty technology businessesbeing clients of the Group; these include IBM, Apple, Microsoft, SunMicrosystems and Cisco. The Group strategy has also evolved to pursuenon-technology clients and the Group already works with such brands as RoyalMail, More Th>n (Royal and Sun Alliance Group), Olympus, Total and theDepartment for Education and Skills. The Group is made up of four independently branded subsidiaries that operate asautonomous businesses thus enabling them to service competing client businesses.The Group has three broad technology PR subsidiaries: Text 100, BiteCommunications and Inferno. The fourth brand, AUGUST.ONE, provides both B2B andConsumer services across a number of vertical market sectors. More informationcan be found at: www.nextfifteen.com. Enquiries: Next Fifteen Tim Dyson, Chief Executive 00 1 415 350 2801David Dewhurst, Finance Director 020 8846 0771 Bridgewell John Craven, Director 020 7003 3000Fred Ward, Associate Director Holborn PRDavid Bick 020 7929 5599 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
NFC.L