4th Oct 2007 11:00
Naspers Limited (JSE:NPN) (LSE:NPSN), today announced, that itwill make a public tender offer to acquire up to 100% of leadingWarsaw-listed Polish internet company Gadu Gadu S.A. and that thecurrent majority shareholder has irrevocably committed to tender its55% shareholding in the public tender offer. £ Since inception in 2000, Gadu Gadu has evolved into Poland'sleading Instant Messenger (IM). The company has over six millionunique users with a 43% share of the Polish IM market. The companyalso operates one of the leading social community portals in thecountry, mojageneracja.pl, with approximately 1,6 million uniqueusers. £ Poland is the EU's fifth most populous country with 38 millioninhabitants, exhibiting fast growth in the penetration of broadbandconnectivity, usage of the internet and online internet advertising.Through this investment, Naspers enters the Polish market and bycontributing its international know-how and track record in otherlarge markets such as China (Tencent) and Russia (Mail.ru), Naspersexpects to build the existing business and the user community byadding functionality, enriching user experience, maximising engagementwith users and leveraging the platform with advertisers for optimisedmonetisation. £ In terms of the public tender Naspers will extend an offer toacquire 100% of the shares of Gadu Gadu S.A. at a tender price of PLN23,50 per share with the current majority shareholder having made anirrevocable commitment to tender its 55% shareholding. Assuming 100%acceptance in the tender offer, the total investment considerationwill be approximately US$155 million. £ Important Information: £ This announcement contains forward-looking statements. While theseforward-looking statements represent our judgements and futureexpectations, a number of risks, uncertainties and other importantfactors could cause actual developments and results to differmaterially from our expectations. These include key factors that couldadversely affect our businesses and financial performance. The Companywill not undertake any obligation to (and expressly disclaim any suchobligation to) update or alter our forward-looking statements whetheras a result of new information, future events or otherwise except asrequired by law or any appropriate regulatory authority. Investors arecautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-lookingstatements contained herein. £ About Naspers: £ Naspers is a multinational media company with principal operationsin electronic media (including pay-television, internet andinstant-messaging subscriber platforms and the provision of relatedtechnologies) and print media (including the publishing, distributionand printing of magazines, newspapers and books, and the provision ofprivate education services). Naspers's most significant operations arelocated in South Africa, where it generates most of its revenues, withother operations located elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa, Greece,China, Brazil, Russia, the Netherlands, the United States andThailand. Naspers creates media content, builds brand names around it,and manages the platforms distributing the content. Naspers deliversits content in a variety of forms and through a variety of channels,including television platforms, internet services, newspapers,magazines and books. Copyright Business Wire 2007Related Shares:
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