GHS.L Regulatory News (GHS)

17 Aug 2005 15:53

NewMedia SPARK PLC17 August 2005 NewMedia SPARK plc17 August 2005 NewMedia SPARK announces exit NewMedia SPARK plc ("SPARK"), the early stage technology, digital media andtelecoms investment company, announces the sale of its stake in Elata toQualcomm. Qualcomm Inc., a Fortune 500 company and leading developer and innovator of CodeDivision Multiple Access (CDMA) and other advanced wireless technologies, hasacquired Elata, a global leader in mobile content delivery software, for $57m incash. SPARK invested in Elata with the Royal Bank of Scotland and nCoTecVentures in 2002, and will net proceeds of approximately £1.5m from the sale. Jay Patel, Director of SPARK, said of the sale "This deal represents anexcellent opportunity for Qualcomm to enhance its offering to operators, and forthe venture backers to achieve an attractive return on their initialinvestments. We thank the Elata management team for their efforts over the lastfew years and wish them all the best for the future." SPARK held a 5% stake in Elata, and the investment is valued in SPARK's accountsat £0.64m as at 31 March 2005. Separately SPARK also announces that, following the first anniversary of thesale of Pricerunner to ValueClick Inc., the retention of sale proceeds has beenreleased in full to the vendor shareholders, SPARK's proportion of this is£1.1m. Pricerunner has traded well since the sale and hit its revenue targets.However, it closely missed the profit target set as the trigger for an earnoutpayment, and as a result the potential additional proceeds are not payable. Intotal Spark received £6.4m for its stake in Pricerunner. For further information: Jay Patel/Andrew CarruthersNewMedia SPARK plc 020 7851 7777 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange