Joint Venture

YouGov PLC
06 March 2008



6 March 2008
                                                                               

                                   YouGov plc                                   
                                (the 'Company')                                 
                                                                                
      YouGov, Numis and FOUR Capital to launch research-driven hedge fund
                                        

YouGov plc, the UK's leading online market research agency, announced today that
it has signed heads of agreement with Numis Corporation PLC and FOUR Capital
Partners Limited to form a joint venture hedge fund designed to exploit
investment opportunities identified by YouGov's proprietary, real-time consumer
research capability. Numis will lead fund raising activities, provide investment
research and execution services to the joint venture; and, FOUR Capital's
experienced professionals will identify investments that exploit YouGov's
consumer insights.

YouGov's demonstrable accuracy has led to it being commissioned to conduct
research for a growing number of financial institutions wanting to test trading
ideas with real world market research. This led to the creation of YouGovAlpha
in August 2007 which supplies a number of fund management companies with
marketplace assessments of stocks and sectors. The joint venture with Numis and
FOUR Capital will build on YouGovAlpha's UK and US success. At a time when
market conditions are difficult, the joint venture partners believe that the
fund's distinctive approach will be attractive to a broad range of investors and
plan to raise a first fund later in the year.

Stephan Shakespeare, YouGov Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer, will also
be CEO of the new company, working closely with the professionals within the
partnership at Numis and FOUR. Based on their confidence in the new joint
venture, a number of YouGov directors will be investing in the fund.

Nadhim Zahawi, co-founder and CEO of YouGov said: 'The creation of this joint
venture is the natural and logical extension of the success YouGov has had in
providing the investment community with accurate research. YouGov's unique
market insights will provide investors with a genuine point of differentiation
at a time when markets are challenging; exactly the time when investors need to
be confident in their trading strategies. The shared vision, professionalism and
use of the partners' complimentary skills will ensure this unique proposition
will deliver maximum benefit.'

Stephan Shakespeare, co-founder of YouGov and CEO of the new company, said: 'For
the last year I have been heavily focused on achieving ever greater precision in
measuring changing consumer behavior and gaining insights which can inform good
investment decisions. YouGov has demonstrated its consistent accuracy in
predicting elections - well, the financial markets are like having an election
every day.'

 


Enquiries:
 
YouGov plc                                                         
Stephan Shakespeare               020 7012 6000                    
                                                                   
Numis                                                              
Bill Trent                        020 7260 1333                    
                                                                   
FOUR Capital                                                       
Chris Rodgers                     020 7776 5703                    
                                                                   
Financial Dynamics                                                 
Charlie Palmer / Nicola Biles     020 7831 3113                    
                                                                   
Grant Thornton Corporate Finance                                   
- Nominated Advisor                                                
Gerry Beaney / Colin Aaronson     020 7383 5100                    
                                                                   
Brunswick                                                          
Gill Ackers / Helene Zaugg        020 7404 5959                    

 

Notes to Editors:

Founded in May 2000, YouGov is a professional market research agency pioneering
the use of the Internet and information technology to collect higher-quality
in-depth data for market research and public consultation.

Numis is an independent investment banking and stockbroking business. It aims to
become the investment bank and broker of choice for high quality London-quoted
mid and small cap companies. Thomson Extel Survey Awards voted Numis the leading
broker, research, execution and corporate access provider for quoted companies
with market capitalisations of less than £1bn.

FOUR Capital Partners Limited ('FOUR') is a specialist UK equity fund management
business and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. 
FOUR was established in 2006 and is majority owned by its founding partners, Ted
Williams, Chris Rodgers, Tom Carroll and Derrick Dunne.  FOUR's distinctive
investment approach is designed to generate strong investment returns without
taking undue risks.



                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange