Acquisition Completed, etc
365 Corporation PLC
20 April 2000
365 Corporation plc
365 Corporation plc announces that it has completed the acquisition of 55% of
the issued share capital of G Telecommunications Limited.
397,760 Ordinary Shares of 0.25p each in 365 Corporation plc are to be issued
as consideration. Accordingly, application has been made to the London Stock
Exchange for these shares to be admitted to the Official List. The Shares rank
pari passu with the existing issued shares of the Company. Dealings are
expected to commence on 2 May, 2000.
Further consideration of Ordinary shares of market value up to £450,000 is
dependent upon meeting six revenue targets at each of which Ordinary shares of
market value £75,000 would be allotted and issued.
Telecom 365 Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of 365 Corporation plc, already
owns 45% of the issued shares of G Telecommunications Limited.
Copies of this announcement are available from The Company Announcements
Office of the London Stock Exchange for the period of 2 business days from the
date hereof and from The Registered Office of the Company for the period of 14
days from the date hereof.
Contact:
Martin Turner, Finance Director 365 Corporation plc 01442 283 300
Edward Bridges Financial Dynamics 0207 831 3113
NOTES TO EDITORS:
365 Corporation plc
CURRENT SERVICE AND CONTENT OFFERINGS
Consumer
Sport
Football - www.football365.com (English), www.futbol365.com (Spanish),
www.football365.fr (French), www.talkfootball365.com (Football content on a
cross platform basis via TalkFootball365, a telephone and Internet service).
www.eurofinals365.com (a dedicated service, in five languages, covering the
European Championships 2000).
Cricket - www.cricinfo365.com (daily e-mail publication in joint venture with
CricInfo), www.cricketline.com (a leading site for International cricket,
complete scorecards of every Test match ever played).
Rugby - www.rugby365.com (produced in four language versions - English,
French, Spanish, Afrikaans), www.rugbyrugby.com (North American rugby
website), www.planet-rugby.com (a market leading online rugby resource
including breaking news, unique statistics).
Racetips: www.racetips.com (a site dedicated to Horse Racing giving the inside
track on news, form and the horses to follow).
Formula 1: www.planet-f1.com (website featuring news, features and a
searchable archive of every race in F1 history).
Sports Overview: www.sportszine.co.uk (complete guide to sport on the Internet
through a searchable database of over 40,000 individually reviewed websites),
www.sportonair.com (UK's first dedicated sports audio website with hourly
news, features and interviews).
Entertainment
Music - www.music365.com (reviews of albums and singles, interviews with
artists and personalities and topical stories, on-line chat forum, on-line
shopping facilities for concert tickets, CDs and videos).
Competitions - www.win365.co.uk (a cross-platform competition based product).
Games - www.planet-trivia.com (a network of live, multiplayer trivia games
where users can compete in real time against anyone else in the world on a
variety of topics including television, education, history, entertainment and
sport and win prizes).
365Television - The first production, a documentary on boxer Mike Tyson's UK
fight, was commissioned by BBC Choice and recently aired on BBC Choice and
BBC2.
Lifestyle
Companionship - www.personals365.com (an on-line companionship product),
www.theswitch.co.uk (a multi-platform product using the web and telephone for
chat).
Gardening - www.gardening365.com
Advisory services - telephone-based services to users. 365 provides
telephone lines and systems and Infogenie procures the advisory services,
currently for legal services and veterinary services.
Business
The Business Division provides a 'one stop shop' of telecommunication services
and Internet applications to small and medium sized enterprises in the UK,
France and Ireland. 365 currently provides fixed line voice and data access,
telephone systems, mobiles, Internet access and related services.
In order to work towards national coverage, 365 has formed equity joint
ventures with 12 telecom systems dealers across the UK. Under these
arrangements, 365 contributes its expertise and access to its customer service
and billing infrastructure, while the dealer contributes local sales and
marketing expertise. The existing customer base of the joint venture partners
provides the initial target for 365's marketing efforts.
On 29 February 2000, 365 acquired the entire issued capital of Fenfones
Communications Limited, an established telephone systems supplier located in
Newmarket serving the SME market. Total consideration paid was £4,520,000.
On the same day, 365 acquired the 50% shareholding in Datacom Networks Limited
(a joint venture) owned by Fenfones for £500,000.
The formation of equity joint ventures with telecom system dealers, and
acquisition of Fenfones, underlines 365's strategy of securing distribution
and long-term customer retention though partnership with, or ownership of, the
telephone system supply channel. The telephone system represents the key
product around which value-added telecommunication and internet services can
be developed and sold to SME customers.