Earthport Regulatory News (EPO)

19 December 2013

Earthport plc

("Earthport" or the "Company")

Commercial Contract and Global Strategic Agreement with Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Earthport (AIM:EPO), the cross-border payments service provider, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, a leader in global payments and transaction services, today signed a multi-year agreement to expand Bank of America Merrill Lynch's low value clearing capabilities globally and to improve the efficiency of its high volume, low value payments. Earthport is already an existing key supplier to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Further operational detail regarding the agreement can be found at: http://www.earthport.com/press-releases/bank-america-merrill-lynch-earthport-sign-strategic-agreement.

Commercial terms include minimum revenue to Earthport of $11.3 million, with the majority of the revenue anticipated within the first 30 months of the agreement.

Earthport granted warrants at a strike price of £0.242 per ordinary share over 17.3 million new ordinary shares to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Bank of America Merrill Lynch may receive additional warrants over a further maximum of up 19.3 million new ordinary shares at a strike price of £0.31 if it delivers payment revenues to Earthport that materially exceed the minimums under the commercial contract.

The terms of the warrants include limited anti-dilution provisions for the benefit of Bank of America Merrill Lynch in certain circumstances. The Board considers that any such provisions are unlikely to be triggered.

There are no exclusivities or limitations on Earthport related to other clients or potential clients as part of this agreement.

Ather Williams III, Head of Global Payments for Bank of America Merrill Lynch commented: "Our clients are asking us to help them quickly enter new markets across the globe. In many cases, a low-value international payment vehicle perfectly suits their needs. The situation reflects the increasing trend for clients to ask for financial products and services that support new models, rather than services designed for a different purpose, in a different era. We are pleased that the agreement with Earthport will deepen our ability to provide clients with industry leading solutions." 

Hank Uberoi, CEO of Earthport plc, further commented: "Having signed an initial agreement with Bank of America Merrill Lynch in December 2012 for a specific payments service in North America, I am delighted today to announce the progression of this relationship, and the signing of a worldwide contract. The new contract with Bank of America Merrill Lynch marks a commitment to a long term strategic relationship, and represents a large and international strategic opportunity across several of Bank of America Merrill Lynch's payments services. We look forward to continuing to work together to provide leading payment products to its corporate customers."

For further information, please contact:

About Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. We serve approximately 51 million consumer and small business relationships with approximately 5,200 retail banking offices and approximately 16,200 ATMs and award-winning online banking with 30 million active users and more than 14 million mobile users. Bank of America is among the world's leading wealth management companies and is a global leader in corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations in more than 40 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is the marketing name for the global banking and global markets businesses of Bank of America Corporation. Lending, derivatives, and other commercial banking activities are performed globally by banking affiliates of Bank of America Corporation, including Bank of America, N.A., member FDIC. Securities, strategic advisory, and other investment banking activities are performed globally by investment banking affiliates of Bank of America Corporation ("Investment Banking Affiliates"), including, in the United States, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and Merrill Lynch Professional Clearing Corp., all of which are registered broker-dealers and members of FINRA and SIPC, and, in other jurisdictions, by locally registered entities. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and Merrill Lynch Professional Clearing Corp. are registered as futures commission merchants with the CFTC and are members of the NFA. Investment products offered by Investment Banking Affiliates: Are Not FDIC Insured * May Lose Value * Are Not Bank Guaranteed.

Copyright 2013 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved. Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Broadcort and their logos are trademarks of Bank of America Corporation and/or its affiliates.

www.bankofamerica.com

About Earthport

Earthport plc, a regulated global financial services organisation, specialises in the provision of a white label cross-border payments service.

Through its innovative payments framework, specifically designed for high volumes of low value cross-border payments, Earthport provides a cost-effective and transparent service for secure international payments. Earthport's clients include banks, foreign exchange businesses, money transfer organisations, payment aggregators and e-commerce businesses. Through Earthport's well established payments infrastructure, clients can clear and settle payments directly to banked beneficiaries in over 60 countries.

The company is headquartered in London and is listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) on the London Stock Exchange. It operates globally with additional regional offices in Dubai and New York. Earthport plc is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Payment Service Regulations 2009 for the provision of payment services. To learn more, please visit www.earthport.com and follow us via RSS or on social channels, Twitter @Earthport, LinkedIn, Youtube and Slideshare.