Investment in Daniel Stewart

RNS Number : 9846H

Brainspark PLC

03 March 2010

 



                                                                                                                                           3 March 2010

Brainspark plc

("Brainspark or the "Company")

Investment in Daniel Stewart Securities plc

The Board of Brainspark (AIM: BSP) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with AIM listed stockbroker, Daniel Stewart Securities plc ("Daniel Stewart" or the "Group") to subscribe for 25,000,000 new ordinary shares of 0.25 pence each in Daniel Stewart at a price of 2 pence per Daniel Stewart share, for a total consideration of £500,000 (the "Agreement"). On completion of the Agreement, Brainspark will have an interest in approximately 6.66 per cent. of the enlarged issued share capital of Daniel Stewart. 

The Company has also acquired, for the consideration of £1, an option to purchase a further 75,000,000 new ordinary shares in Daniel Stewart (the "Option"). The Option is exercisable at a price of 2 pence per Daniel Stewart share at any time until midday on 29 June 2010 and should the Option be exercised Brainspark will hold 100,000,000 ordinary shares in Daniel Stewart. The exercise of the Option is at the discretion of Brainspark.  Should the Option be exercised Alfredo Villa, CEO of Brainspark and with over 20 years experience in the Swiss banking industry, will be invited to join the Board of Daniel Stewart as a Non-Executive Director.  The exercise of the Option and the appointment of Alfredo Villa to the Board of Daniel Stewart are both subject to, inter alia, approval from the Financial Services Authority.

Daniel Stewart is an AIM-listed financial services company providing a range of investment banking services to small cap publicly traded and non-publicly traded companies. The Group has two subsidiaries, Daniel Stewart and Company plc, the Group's principal operating subsidiary, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority and is a member of the London Stock Exchange, and Daniel Stewart Capital, the Group's leasing and debt financing division.

Daniel Stewart and Company plc is an AIM Nominated Adviser and PLUS Market corporate adviser, as well as being a regulated broker to both the Official List and AIM.  It currently acts for approximately 50 AIM companies and is actively seeking to increase its client base with companies who will benefit from its specialised corporate advisory and institutional stock broking services.

For the year ended 31 March 2009, Daniel Stewart generated revenue of £4.38 million and a loss before tax of £2.25 million. Net assets of Daniel Stewart as at 30 September 2009 were £4.10 million.

Prof. Francesco Gardin, Chairman of Brainspark, commented: "Our decision to enter into the financial services sector has been a long-term goal of the Company. By the end of the calendar year, we hope to have created a comprehensively structured group of companies, each with strong synergies to our core investment, Mediapolis Investments SA. Our investment in Daniel Stewart will provide us with the professional capabilities, expertise and placing power to facilitate our future investments, should we require it. We are also hoping to utilise their experience to become involved with AIM Italia, where together we can establish a successful smaller company market in Italy.

"We have great respect for the management team at Daniel Stewart and look forward to a successful working relationship with them as we continue to pursue our strategy of European investments in line with our strategy.

Peter Shea, CEO of Daniel Stewart, said, "We are delighted to welcome Brainspark on board as a shareholder and we look forward to continuing to grow the business, creating value for shareholders."

-ends-

For further information please contact:

Brainspark plc	[phone]
Francesco Gardin, Chairman
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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