BIDS.L Regulatory News (BIDS)

25 Jul 2005 07:00

ADDleisure PLC25 July 2005 ADDleisure Plc / Epic: ADE.L / Index: AIM / Sector: Leisure Embargoed for 7am Monday 25 July 2005 ADDLEISURE PLC UPDATE & EXERCISE OF WARRANTS ADDleisure Plc ('ADDleisure' or 'the Company'), a holding company formed tocapitalise on new opportunities in the leisure, health and fitness sectors, ispleased to report progress in the development of the three investments in itsportfolio. Liberation Fitness Systems Limited The Company has a 42% interest in Liberation Fitness Systems Limited ("LFS"),which markets Power Plate, a product that uses advanced vibration technology tostimulate muscular and circulatory responses. We are pleased to report recentinstallations by a number of UK health club operators including Cannons, DavidLloyd Leisure and Holmes Place. Power Plate also continues to be sold direct toconsumers by Harrods and now also by Totally Fitness. Retail sales of both thepersonal (home-use) and commercial units are ahead of management's expectationsfollowing a successful PR campaign earlier in the year. Since the half year-end, LFS extended its rights to distribute Power Plate inthe UK and Ireland, to include Australia, Israel, Czech Republic, Hungary andPoland. It has already started to exploit the potential in these rights withthe first shipments being made in June to Australia and Israel. The Directorsare confident about the prospects for Power Plate and expects continued salesgrowth in the UK and internationally. Fitbug Limited ADDleisure has a 75% interest in Fitbug Limited (Fitbug) which has developed aunique online personal health and wellbeing coach. Fitbug uses a combination ofan interactive pedometer and web technology to measure, provide feedback on andprescribe physical activity and nutrition programmes for its users. Fitbug hasinvested significantly in testing different markets and building productawareness. It now has strong propositions for the corporate, healthcare andfitness sectors. Fitbug is continuing in discussions with potential strategicpartners from the fitness and healthcare sectors with the objective ofaccelerating the market penetration of the product. Having reviewed theincremental investment required to pursue these opportunities, the Company hasdecided to make additional funds available to Fitbug. The Company is pleased tonote that in recent weeks significant progress has been made both in terms ofdevelopment and marketing. In June 2005, Fitbug announced the launch of its Health Professional modulewhich allows personal trainers, corporate health & well-being managers andmedical practitioners to form a "360 degree view" of their clients' activitylevels outside of training sessions or consultations. The module has beenadopted by LA Fitness Personal trainers, One Lifestyle Personal Trainers, and tosupport Next Generation's Fit Camp programme and LA Fitness' new Promise WeightLoss clubs. Importantly, Fitbug has formed an alliance with Premier TrainingInternational ('Premier'), the UK's leading fitness professional trainingprovider. Premier, which operates in 22 UK training venues, will educate allits students on the benefits of employing Fitbug as part of their personaltraining qualification, which will provide a significant distribution andmarketing network. Digital Plantation Limited ADDleisure has a 50.2% interest in Digital Plantation Limited ('Digital').Digital designs and develops intelligent booking system software, under theEz-Book banner, for the leisure and health industry. Although this is a newinvestment, acquired in May this year, the Directors are encouraged by the levelof interest and the developing deal pipeline. Recent licensing deals have beenconcluded with a number of spa operators including Champney's Citypoint andServe Health & Beauty Ltd, which operates under the re-aqua brand, whilstEz-Book is being trialled by Hollywood Bowl at four sites with a view toroll-out across its estate. Digital is in negotiations with a number of otherleisure operators and hopes to announce further deals soon. Warrants Following the publication of this announcement, the Directors of ADDleisureintend to subscribe for a total of 9,000,000 ordinary shares at 5 pence eachthrough the exercise of part of their respective holdings of warrants in theCompany. In addition, the Company has also received notification from ReverseTake-Over Investments plc ('RTI') that it intends to subscribe for 1,000,000ordinary shares at 5 pence per share through the exercise of part of its holdingof warrants in the Company. Accordingly the Company will allot 10,000,000ordinary shares at the fixed subscription price of 5p per share. Following thisexercise there will be 110,000,000 ordinary shares in issue. A total of25,000,000 warrants remain outstanding. Name Warrants Number of ordinary shares Percentage interest in issued exercised at interested in after share capital of the Company 5p per exercising warrants after exercising warrants shareAllan 3,000,000 19,666,666 19.67Fisher David 3,000,000 19,666,667 19.67Turner David 3,000,000 19,666,667 19.67Cummin RTI 1,000,000 22,540,000 22.54 ADDleisure CEO David Turner said: "There has been a fundamental shift towards amore positive attitude to health and fitness throughout society as a whole,resulting in more opportunities in the leisure sector. I am delighted that ourthree investments are all generating significant interest as people strivetowards achieving a healthier lifestyle. "We have what I believe to be three very exciting investments that can beenhanced by our collective knowledge and experience. Power Plate is now beingadopted by some of the major chains and Ez-Book is not only performing in thehealth and fitness market but is breaking into other sectors which could haveexciting implications for sales growth. Although Fitbug is below our ownforecast for sales, the trend is now looking stronger. We have signed importantdeals with blue chip companies, gained increased awareness of the product andsecured the Premier deal. "To emphasise our commitment and confidence in the Company, the Directors areexercising part of their holding of warrants. We are busy securing furtherbusiness for all our investments and believe that our investments have theproducts and personnel to be successful." Due to the exercise of warrants referred to above, application will today bemade for a total of 10,000,000 new ordinary shares to be admitted to trading onthe AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. The new ordinary shares will rank pari passu with the existing ordinary sharesof the Company and dealings in the new ordinary shares are expected to commenceon 29 July 2005. ** E N D S ** Issued on behalf of ADDleisure Plc by St Brides Media & Finance Ltd, 46 BedfordRow, London WC1R 4LR. Contacts:Isabel Crossley St. Brides Media Tel: 020 7242 4477Ben Margolis ADDleisure Plc Tel: 020 7449 1000 Notes: • Floated on AIM in October 2004, ADDleisure Plc believes that the increase in awareness of the importance of physical health has resulted in an opportunity to develop and promote new highly differentiated leisure offerings to the leisure industry as a whole, as well as market fitness products and services to the millions of people who want to remain healthy but do not belong to gyms. • It has made three initial investments in Fitbug Limited, Liberation Fitness System and Digital Plantation Ltd. • The Company has a highly experienced management team, including Allan Fisher, founder and former CEO of Holmes Place; David Turner, founder and former director of LA Fitness plc; and David Cummin, founder and former director of Membertrack Limited, a leading club membership software provider. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange