Acquisitions

Carphone Warehouse Group PLC 17 August 2000 THE CARPHONE WAREHOUSE GROUP PLC MAKES EUROPEAN ACQUISITIONS The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC today announces acquisitions in the Netherlands and Poland. Both purchases are being made through The Phone House, the Group's wholly owned European subsidiary. In the Netherlands the Group is acquiring the largest independent business to business mobile telecoms distributor through the purchase of the entire issued share capital of Road Phone Telecom NV, for a total of £6.4 million in cash. The Group currently has 88 stores in the Netherlands (55 Phone House, 33 Phone House Express), this combined with Road Phone's 18 business centres takes the whole portfolio to 106. Road Phone's turnover last year was approximately £10m and it made over 20,000 connections, all of which were subscription- based business contracts. Each outlet will be branded as a Phone House business centre within the next six months. In Poland the Group is acquiring 57 dealerships through the purchase of the entire issued share capital of CellStar SP Zo.o from US wireless logistics company, CellStar Corporation, for a total of £498,405 in cash. The Group currently has four stores in Poland and this purchase will take its portfolio to a total of 61. The dealerships will be refurbished to include the Phone House branding and all are located in prominent locations in Warsaw and other large cities. David Ross, Chief Operating Officer, The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC said: 'The Road Phone business fits well with the Phone House due to its unique position in the business to business market. The acquisition is important as it establishes us as the most significant distributor in the Netherlands giving us leading positions in both consumer and corporate markets. 'The acquisition in Poland is an important step in developing our portfolio in Central Europe. The region offers us huge opportunities due to the scarcity of landline networks and the increasingly heavy reliance on the mobile phone. Coupled with our local knowledge and understanding, these prominent locations will give us a real competitive edge in Poland. 'The last month has clearly demonstrated our European expansion plans are right on track. These acquisitions complement our recent purchase of stores in France and Portugal and together represent a significant development in our European growth strategy, adding a total of 110 retail outlets.' Enquiries The Carphone Warehouse Group Plc 0208 896 5000 David Ross Hugh Roberts Credit Suisse First Boston 0207 888 8888 George Maddison James Leigh Pemberton Citigate Dewe Rogerson 0207 638 9571 Anthony Carlisle NOTES TO EDITORS 1. The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC recently (28 July and 31 August respectively) announced the purchase of 27 stores from French clothing retailer Multiples SA for a total of £8.7m in cash and 8 stores from Portuguese mobile telecoms retailer PVP for a total of £3.1m in cash. 2. The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC recently (14 July) floated on the London Stock Exchange. Close to 102.6 million new shares and over 61 million existing ordinary shares were offered, representing approximately 20% of the total enlarged share capital. Based on the issue price of 200p per share, the Group is valued at approximately £1.7billion. 3. The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC (CPW) was founded in 1989 and has experienced rapid growth in the 1990s under the leadership of Charles Dunstone and David Ross. The company has three business segments. - Distribution - principally comprising retail, on-line and insurance. - Telecoms - comprising on-going revenues and Value Telecom - Wireless Internet Services - comprising Mviva and certain strategic investments. 4. Distribution CPW is the only pan-European retailer of mobile telephony products and services. It is the leading independent mobile phone retailer in the UK, France, Spain, Sweden and Ireland and is one of the leading such retailers in Belgium and the Netherlands, in each case in terms of market share. The Group expects to develop a strong presence in the German market following its recent agreement to a further 97 retail locations. The Group provides a growing distribution platform in Europe for the mobile network operators and equipment manufacturers. CPW is developing its Telecoms division including its own mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), branded Value Telecom, and further through its recent acquisition of the UK business of Cellcom Limited, a cellular services provider, which will enable it to increase the Group's involvement in after sales services offered to customers. CPW connected approximately 2.3 million customers to mobile phone networks in the year to 25 March 2000, compared to approximately 1.1 million connections in the previous financial year. Subscription packages represented approximately 48% of connection sales. Pre- pay packages represented approximately 52% of connection sales. As well as its network of shops, CPW sells directly to customers via its UK based telephone call centre, a pan- European website and its site on Open interactive TV. Approximately 35% of CPW's customers in the UK take out insurance policies with CPW Insurance. As at 25 March 2000, CPW Insurance had a customer base of approximately 511,000 and generated £27.4 million revenues. 5. Telecoms Ongoing revenue: CPW has agreements with an increasing number of European mobile network operators from which the Group receives a share of air-time revenue derived from subscribers introduced by the Group to those operators. The share of these revenues generates significant recurring cash flows with no direct cost to the Group. Value Telecom: Launched in December 1999, Value Telecom is a mobile virtual network operator. It offers a tariff structure combining the advantages associated with the traditional subscription and pre-pay services. Value Telecom's offering has been designed not to replicate tariff packages offered by existing mobile network operators 6. Wireless Internet Services This division comprises Mviva powered by AOL, the Group's multi-access internet portal and strategic investments in wireless technology and internet-related businesses. Launched in the UK in July 2000 Mviva is accessible via mobile and fixed line communications devices such as mobile phones, PDAs, personal computers, laptop computers and interactive television. Mviva is available to customers regardless of device for mobile network operator. It will be launched initially in four European markets, (France, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands) in September and in selected countries across the rest of Europe over the next 12 to 18 months. Mviva has arrangements with over 50 third party content and service providers, offering a wide range of information, e- commerce and other services to the user. On 12 June 2000, CPW and AOL Europe entered into a strategic alliance under which AOL Europe acquired a 15% interest in Mviva and was issued warrants to acquire a further 4.9% interest in Mviva within the next 12 months. In return AOL Europe paid US$25million in cash and agreed to provide functionality, content and services to Mviva. The Group makes strategic investments in new mobile internet technology in order to strengthen CPW's ability to capture, influence and take advantage of the raid advance of the relevant technology within the emerging wireless market by leveraging the Group's brand and distribution network. These investments are primarily aimed at providing the Group and Mviva with richer content and thus delivering enhanced services to CPW's customers. The Pan-European coverage of the Group's distribution activities, its significant customer base and well established relationships with European mobile network operators attract the interest of wireless technology and internet entrepreneurs, providing CPW with access to a large number of strategic investment opportunities.

Companies

Currys (CURY)
UK 100