Investments in Vyke and AC An

RNS Number : 9277L

Brainspark PLC

14 May 2010

 



            14 May 2010

Brainspark plc

("Brainspark" or the "Company")

Investment in Vyke Communications plc

Further re investment in AC Ancona S.p.A

Brainspark plc (AIM: BSP), a fast growing international investment company, is pleased to announce the following investment activity:

Investment in Vyke Communications plc

The Company is pleased to announce that they have agreed to make an investment to acquire an 11.56 per cent interest in Vyke Communications plc ("Vyke") (AIM: VYKE) for a consideration of GBP 748,750 (the "Investment").  The Investment is being made as part of a placing by Vyke which was announced by Vyke on 22 April 2010 and approved by shareholders of Vyke at a general meeting held on 10 May 2010. The Investment is being fully settled from the Company's existing cash resources. 

Vyke is an AIM quoted, leading mobile Voice over Internet Protocol ("VoIP") provider and is headquartered in the UK with subsidiaries and offices in Norway, USA, Iceland and Malaysia. The strategic goal of Vyke is to combine its expertise in VoIP-based communication systems, mobile data service creation/handset technology and wholesale carrier network management to provide a converged communication solution. Vyke's current set of mobile-oriented products offers up to a 98% discount compared to current typical mobile operator pricing structures. 

For the twelve months to 31 December 2008 Vyke generated revenues of GBP 20.93 million, with a loss before tax of GBP 4.40 million. Unaudited net assets of Vyke as at 30 June 2009 were GBP 21.62 million.

Further re investment in AC Ancona S.p.A.

Brainspark announced on 19 March 2010 that they had acquired an interest in 36.6 per cent of the total issued share capital of AC Ancona S.p.A. ("AC Ancona"), an Italian Serie B football club. Further to this announcement, Brainspark has now issued the second tranche of 111,000,000 new ordinary shares of 0.01 pence each in Brainspark to Investor Unlimited ("Consideration Shares"). Effective from 19 March 2010, 55,500,000 of these Consideration Shares are subject to a 12 month lock in arrangement and the other 55,500,000 Consideration Shares are subject to a 24 month lock in arrangement.

Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for the 111,000,000 Consideration Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM ("Admission"). It is expected that Admission will take place on or around 20 May 2010. On Admission there will be 2,380,672,667 ordinary shares of 0.01 pence each in the Company in issue and Investor Unlimited will be interested in 211,000,000 ordinary shares in Brainspark representing 8.86 per cent of the enlarged issued share capital of Brainspark.

In addition, the Company is pleased to announce that they have invested EUR 850,000 (c. GBP 725,080) in AC Ancona as part of a EUR 10,200,000 (GBP 8,760,916) capital raising exercise currently being undertaken by AC Ancona. A total of EUR 1,480,000 of this round, including Brainspark's investment, has been raised so far. Following the investment Brainspark holds 44.8 per cent. of the total issued share capital of AC Ancona, to be delivered to the Company by 31 May 2010. The investment has been fully settled from Brainspark's existing cash resources.

For the year ended 30 June 2009 AC Ancona generated revenue of EUR 6.02 million (GBP 5.37 million) and a net loss of EUR 2.12 million (GBP 1.89 million), fully covered by a capital increase of EUR 2.15 million (GBP 1.92 million) as of 29 January 2010. The total assets of AC Ancona as at 30 June 2009 were EUR 5.17 million (GBP 4.62 million).

Alfredo Villa, CEO of Brainspark, commented: "We are very excited about our investment in Vyke, a clear leader in the field of low cost VoIP technology and services. We see the company as being significantly undervalued at this time but has a sparkling future ahead as we see greater convergence between mobile telephony and the internet. We believe there are strong synergies between Vyke's offering and the services which our Italian video-community company, Bibop provides. The Investment also adds a further quoted company to our investment portfolio."

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For further information please visit our website, www.brainspark.com, or contact:

Brainspark plc	[phone]
Francesco Gardin, Chairman Alfredo Villa, Chief Executive
Allenby Capital Limited	[phone]
Nick Athanas/James Reeve
Leander PR	[phone]
Christian Taylor-Wilkinson

Notes to Editors:

About Brainspark Plc

Brainspark plc (AIM: BSP) is an AIM listed investment company pursuing a dynamic strategy to create a comprehensive portfolio of companies encompassing the interactive media, leisure, entertainment and financial services sectors mainly in Italy but also other European countries. Its core investment is Mediapolis Investments SA, the owner of a site in northern Italy with plans for the development of a large theme park. The company may be either a passive or active investor and Brainspark's investment rationale ranges from acquiring minority positions with strategic influence through to larger controlling positions.

 

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