XDC secures EUR 15.3 million growth capital
Gimv, SRIW and existing shareholders provide
additional funding for XDC’s pan-European roll-out of digital cinema
XDC, European leader in digital cinema distribution services, has taken a major
step forward in order to execute its strategy to deploy and service more than
8,000 digital cinema screens across Europe by 2015.
XDC is the first company to have VPF digital cinema deployment agreements with
all 6 major US film studios for a total of 8,000 digital screens in 22 European
countries. VPFs (Virtual Print Fees) allow cinema exhibitors to invest in
digitalisation with the financial support of the film studios, throughout XDC,
deploying entity. XDC’s VPF agreements make it the largest player in the
roll-out of digital cinema in Europe.
As only 5% of the European movie screens have already been digitalized, digital
cinema is expected to grow tremendously in the coming years, thanks to the VPF
system and a strong market demand for 3D movies and alternative content.
The new EUR 15.3 million funding by Gimv, SRIW and selected existing investors,
provides the company with the funds to finance its growth in the coming years.
Founding partner EVS remains the most important investor with a 30.2% fully
diluted stake (41.3% not diluted) while SRIW and Gimv become cornerstone
investors with a 20.7% and 20.2% stake (fully diluted) respectively.
Serge Plasch, CEO of XDC, stated: “Securing new funding in this challenging
financial climate shows the market potential of XDC’s technology and services.
We are very proud that a new investor such as Gimv shares the vision with SRIW
and our founding shareholders. With this funding, the company will be able to
accelerate its network deployment and to expand its digital content services to
the European cinema industry and beyond.â€
Alain Keppens, Head Buyouts & Growth - Belgium at Gimv, stated: “Gimv is very
pleased to further strengthen XDC’s capital and become co-investor together with
EVS. Our Buyouts & Growth and Technology teams were able to tap on our knowledge
from current and past investments in the entertainment and media sectors, such
as Barco, Alfacam and Kinepolis Group. We believe that the combination of XDC’s
strong capital base, its financing agreements with banks and its strong support
and service offering should enable the company to capture a major part of this
high-growth market. Moreover, we are convinced that the company is
well-positioned to reinforce its leadership in Europe.â€
Olivier Vanderijst, Chairman of the Executive Committee of SRIW, stated: “XDC is
today the European leader in its sector. Following our first investment in
2008, our additional commitment in this major financing reflects our mission to
support Walloon companies in their international expansion. It is also another
evidence of the SRIW involvement in new technologies.†Eric Bauche, Executive
Committee Advisor at SRIW, added: “Last but not least, XDC shall create new
vacancies in Liege (Belgium) and across Europe for highly skilled people in the
coming years.â€
About XDC International
XDC is the European leader for Digital Cinema technology and services in Europe
with more than 1.350 committed digital screens in 11 European countries
(Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Austria, Portugal, Belgium, The Netherlands,
Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland) out of which 50% have already been
deployed.
XDC HQ is based in Liege (Belgium) and provides end-to-end digital cinema
solutions including equipment supply, financing (VPF, leasing, …), training,
installation and 24/7 maintenance, as well as content processing and delivery.
The company is the first entity to have VPF digital cinema deployment agreements
with all 6 major US studios Warner, Fox, Universal, Paramount, Sony and Disney
for a total of 8,000 digital screens in 22 European countries. Besides its
financing program with ING Lease, XDC has set up a global financing of 100
millions Euros with a bank consortium led by BNP Paribas Fortis to allow the VPF
roll out of 2,000 digital screens for its European deployment program. XDC
Digital Content Lab has been processing more than 600 different titles, and
offers a full service including mastering, duplication, key management, 24/7
helpdesk, extranet tracking, physical/virtual delivery. Last but not least, XDC
is also very active in Alternative Content by offering a full service from
booking and promotion up to delivery, reporting and box office collection.
 www.xdcinema.com <
http://www.xdcinema.com/>
About SRIW
SRIW is the corporate investment vehicle owned by the Walloon Region. Founded in
1979, it currently manages around EUR 1 billion of assets. SRIW provides long
term equity or equity-linked funding to support the international expansion of
Walloon companies and attract foreign companies in that region. SRIW focuses on
industrial companies, as well as environmental activities, technologies and
telecommunications. Â www.sriw.be <
http://www.sriw.be/>
About Gimv
Gimv (Euronext Brussels: GIMB, Bloomberg: GIMB BB, Reuters: GIMV.BR) is a
European investment company with nearly 30 years of experience in private equity
and venture capital. The company is listed on NYSE Euronext Brussels and
currently manages around EUR 1.7 billion of assets.
Gimv invests in buyouts and provides growth capital to established companies and
has local teams in Belgium, France, The Netherlands and Germany. Gimv makes
venture capital investments in high tech sectors through its specialist teams in
Life Sciences, Technology and Cleantech. Â www.gimv.com <
http://www.gimv.com/>
About EVS
EVS Broadcast Equipment (Euronext Brussels: EVS, Bloomberg: EVS BB, Reuters:
EVSB.BR) is a world-wide leader in developing and selling live and near-live
digital solutions for Television and Video content related corporations. Based
in Liege, Belgium, it is listed on NYSE Euronext and currently employs more than
270 staff in 13 countries. EVS booked EUR 110 million sales in 2008. EVS serves
more than 1.000 customers including NBC, BSkyB, FOX, RTL, NHK, CANAL+, CCTV,
BBC, ZDF and many more. It pioneered Digital Cinema solutions in 1999 and,
concentrating on broadcast technologies, spun-out this business line in 2004.
www.evs-global.com <
http://www.evs-global.com/>
For further information, please contact:
XDC - Serge Plasch, CEO – T +32 4 364 12 06 - spl@xdcinema.com
EVS - Jacques Galloy, Director and CFO – Geoffroy d’Oultremont, Investor
Relations & Corporate Communications Manager – T +32 4 361 70 00 –
corpcom@evs.tv
SRIW – Eric Bauche, Executive Committee Advisor – T +32 4 221 98 49 -
ebauche@sriw.be
Gimv - Frank De Leenheer – Investor Relations & Corporate Communications Manager
- T +32 3 290 22 18 – frank.deleenheer@gimv.com
<mailto:frank.deleenheer@gimv.com>
[HUG#1367505]
Press release in PDF:
http://hugin.info/133958/R/1367505/334393.pdf