IHUB to be bought by ADVFN.COM of the UK.
ADVFN PLC
05 September 2006
September 5, 2006
ADVFN plc ('ADVFN' or the 'Company')
Acquisition
ADVFN is pleased to announce that it has today entered into an agreement (the '
Acquisition Agreement') for the acquisition of 100 per cent of the issued share
capital of InvestorsHub.com Inc and SI Holdings, LLC for a cash consideration of
US $3 Million.
InvestorsHub.com Inc and SI Holdings, LLC operate two online investment
community websites in the North American market, which have over 58 million
combined page views a month. These financial websites are very similar to ADVFN
in both content and context and are highly complementary to ADVFN's current
business model. Just like ADVFN, InvestorsHub.com and SI Holdings, LLC (Silicon
Investor) host large investor communities, providing a robust environment for
stock information and investor discussion. In the year ended 30th June 2006,
InvestorsHub.com Inc and SI Holdings, LLC recorded aggregate unaudited profits
after tax of US $84,000 and had aggregate unaudited net assets of US $184,000.
ADVFN has also today entered into a placing agreement with Mirabaud Securities
Limited ( 'Mirabaud' ) pursuant to which Mirabaud has agreed to use reasonable
endeavours to raise an aggregate of up to £2,945,000 by the issue of up to
98,166,667 new ordinary shares in the capital of the Company at 3p per share.
The fund raising is conditional, inter alia, on the Acquisition Agreement
becoming unconditional in all respects save for any conditions relating to the
placing and admission of the new ordinary shares to trading on AIM. The proceeds
of the placing will be used to fund the consideration under the Acquisition
Agreement, with the balance to be used for general working capital purposes.
'I am delighted to announce the acquisition of InvestorsHub.com and Silicon
Investor. This purchase adds traffic equivalent to the ADVFN website's, already
high, current output in one transaction thereby giving our marketing and sales
infrastructure exciting scope for growth,' said Clem Chambers, CEO of ADVFN.
He continued: 'As well as large valuable audiences, InvestorsHub.com and Silicon
Investor are two sizeable communities who may benefit from ADVFN's premium
subscription packages.
InvestorsHub.com and Silicon Investor give us a platform for revenue and growth
in the US and Canada.'
Bob Zumbrunnen, President and Chief Executive Officer of InvestorsHub.com, said:
'We have had many suitors, but believe ADVFN is the perfect parent company for
us. With ADVFN's resources and financial tools, InvestorsHub.com
(www.investorshub.com) and Silicon Investor (www.siliconinvestor.com) will soon
be part of a great network of financial sites.'
Michael Hodges, Chairman of ADVFN, added: 'This acquisition delivers what we set
out to achieve in the US, bringing us a large audience. With a strong proven
team in the US and excellent scope to leverage our skills with premium data we
are very optimistic about the coming months.'
Enquiries
Francesca De Franco, ADVFN, 020 7070 0932 or email: francescad@advfn.com
Graeme Thom, Grant Thornton, 0870 991 2790
