18th Dec 2006 07:00
Media Corporation PLC Acquisition of Result Online Limited The Board of Media Corporation plc ("Media Corp"), a leading internet media andmarketing Company, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Result OnlineLimited ("Result Online"), a leading financial portal operator and owner ofcredit card comparison website www.creditcardexpert.co.uk ("Creditcardexpert"). Result Online, established in 2003, has grown rapidly into a highly profitableoperator in the personal finance market. Its credit card comparison sitewww.creditcardexpert.co.uk provides a comprehensive guide to UK credit cardshighlighting the best deals available and giving general credit card tips toconsumers. The site provides information on most major credit cards includingBarclaycard, American Express and MBNA. Income is generated through affiliate deals where credit card operators payResult Online for credit card applications and related cost per click searchadvertising. Creditcardexpert has top listings in the major search engines for "credit cards"and other relevant search terms related to them. The websites owned by ResultOnline receive over 80,000 unique monthly visitors and generate over 30,000credit card applications per year. The business was founded by Stephen Hewitt, who has rapidly developed one of themost successful finance websites in the UK. He was previously marketing managerin credit card customer acquisition for HFC Bank plc. Stephen has had variousaccount management roles within advertising agencies in both the UK and the US.Stephen will continue as Managing Director of the business. The total consideration for the acquisition of Result Online is comprised of aninitial payment of £1.57 million and earn out consideration equating to 25% ofadjusted pre tax profits generated over the three year period ending 30September 2009. These further payments are conditional on the business achievingan adjusted pre tax profit of not less than £0.35 million in each of thefinancial years ending 30 September 2007 to 2009 inclusive and are capped at£1.5 million. In addition, as further consideration Stephen Hewitt has been granted warrantsto subscribe for 1,000,000 shares in Media Corporation plc at a price of 6 penceper share. In the accounts for the period ended 31 July 2006, Result Online generated agross profit of £0.55 million and a profit before tax of £0.43 million. Tangiblenet assets were £0.73 million. Justin Drummond, Chief Executive, said, "This acquisition is a major step for Media Corp and fits perfectly with ourpreviously stated strategy of further diversification into the lucrativepersonal finance and travel markets. Synergies are immediately apparent as Result Online uses a competitor of SearchFocus, the Group's search business, for its paid search advertising. Inaddition, Eyeconomy, Media Corp's online media agency business, has itsprincipal advertising client base in the personal finance market". "The characteristics of the personal finance market are almost identical to thegaming industry in that customer acquisition costs and customer churn are bothvery high. This makes these markets particularly attractive for the Group'ssearch advertising business." This is an excellent deal for the Group and as previously stated will be thefirst of many in the fast growing personal finance and travel markets as weexecute our strategy of building a major internet media and marketing business". Enquiries: \* TMedia Corporation plc Justin Drummond, Chief Executive Officer+44 (0)20 7618 9000 Paul Tuson, Group Finance Director Canaccord Adams Limited Mark Ashurst+44 (0)20 7050 6500 Holborn PR Trevor Phillips+44 (0)20 7929 5599\* T Notes to editors: Listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, Media Corp, is a leadinginternet media and advertising Company focused on search, publishing and mediasales. The company has three principal divisions: -- Search - The vertical search specialists - building sector specific search engines for advertisers to communicate in a highly targeted environment with their particular audience. All of our Search and Media products are powered by our own high performance proprietary technology. We can therefore partner with your online businesses to offer "White Label" services across a number of key vertical markets. www.searchfocus.co.uk. -- Publishing - Media Corp has a diverse publishing division ranging from online to printed media. Our impressive stable of websites includes a number of market leading sites including www.onthebox.com, www.casino.co.uk. -- Media - Eyeconomy was formed in 1996, and is a separate operating division of Media Corporation. Eyeconomy specialises in the various sectors of online marketing and advertising, such as online media planning and buying, as well as managing online media campaigns for clients including AOL, Dell and American Express. See www.mediacorpplc.com Copyright Business Wire 2006Related Shares:
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