| Tornado
Virtue plc acquires Streamway Netcasting limited
tuesday 30th july 2002
Virtue Broadcasting plc ("LSE: TDO"), One of Europe's
leading Digital Content Distribution and Service Providers
and the name behind some of the world's most extensive
Internet broadcasts, today announce the acquisition
of Streamway Netcasting Ltd, the online corporate communications
specialists whose clients, either directly or through
re-sellers, include some 15% of FTSE100 companies including
BP, BG Group, Rentokil, Reuters and HBOS and large Fortune
500 companies Roche and Deutsche Bank.
The consideration for the acquisition is 11,396,552
new ordinary shares of 5p each in Virtue Broadcasting plc
representing ten per cent of the enlarged issued share
capital of Virtue Broadcasting. At the middle market closing
price on 29 July 2002 of 5.25p per share, the acquisition
values Streamway at £598,319. In addition, Tornado
Virtue has agreed to repay £195,000 of shareholders'
loans.
In the year to 30 April 2002, Streamway recorded an
operating loss of £510,178 on turnover of £573,757.
At 30 April 2002, Streamway had net liabilities of £225,711.
The operating loss includes a charge in respect of development
cost written off to the profit and loss accounts of
£236,261.
Since the year-end, Streamway has continued to experience
growth in revenues. With the synergies expected to be
generated from the integration of Streamway's business
with that of Virtue Broadcasting, it is expected that Streamway
will generate positive cash flows to the group by the
latter part of 2002.
The acquisition will further strengthen Virtue Broadcasting's
product and service offering and position in the UK
Internet Broadcasting market place and should assist
Virtue Broadcasting in its move towards profitability. The
purchase follows the merger of Tornado Group and Virtue
Broadcasting in April 2002 and is a further demonstration
of the group's strategy of intelligent consolidation
in the digital media broadcast and distribution market.
Adding to Virtue Broadcasting's already considerable experience
and success in both media and corporate markets, the
integration of Streamway's powerful "Presentation
Manager" product and an extensive client list,
presents excellent opportunities for cost savings, cross
selling and the delivery of the first 'Enterprise' level
internal and external communications platform. Streamway
provides access to an extensive reseller network including
Cantos, CCBN, Medialink, PR Newswire and STSN.
Virtue Broadcasting can now boast a comprehensive range
of solutions for all forms of online communication from
large event broadcasting, integration with video conferencing
systems and daily webcast communications from the desktop.
"The corporate communications marketplace is a
fundamental component of Virtue Broadcasting's long-term
business strategy and the purchase of one of the strongest
providers in this space has obvious synergies and demonstrates
our determination to increase our market share and product
offering in this sector," says Neil Ferris, CEO
of Virtue Broadcasting plc.
"This is an exciting and growing market which
presents extensive opportunities for a strong industry
leader. By joining Virtue Broadcasting, I am confident that
Streamway's vision for growth and expansion in this
industry will be achieved," says Dan Grapengiesser,
CEO of Streamway. "This deal now provides a platform
to deliver world leading corporate broadcast communication
tools and services to the markets that we are currently
working in. Not only will our clients have access to
leading broadcast applications but also greater value
due to the reduced cost of delivery."
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