Last checked at 8 Apr 2011 07:00
8 April 2011
Minoan Group Plc
("Minoan" or the "Company")
Agreement with Web-Based Cruise Travel Company Cruise118 and Share Issue
Minoan Group Plc is pleased to announce further expansion into the Travel and Leisure sector having agreed non-binding heads of terms for King World Travel ("KWT") to become the exclusive franchisee of Cruise118 within the Scottish travel market.
Cruise118 is an award winning web-based cruise travel company which is part owned by World Travel Holdings, the world's largest cruise distributor, based in the USA. Its unique cutting edge technology and CRM tools have enabled Cruise118 to achieve 400% compound revenue growth in the last two years.
The Directors believe that this agreement, which it is anticipated will be formally signed in the next two weeks and become effective immediately thereafter, will enable KWT to take a leading market position within the Scottish cruise market, which the Directors estimate had a total transaction value of approximately £200m last year.
In addition, the relationship with Cruise118 should further grow Minoan's own passenger generating capability as it continues to build a distribution led travel business. This agreement will significantly enhance Minoan's online presence, supplementing KWT's website portal "theholidaysearch.com", which Minoan intends to market as an online travel agency.
The initial agreement with Cruise118 is for three years, with an option for a further three years, dependent upon a number of key performance indicators having been achieved.
Christopher Egleton, Minoan Chairman, commented:
"We are delighted to have made further headway in growing our travel and leisure business. As previously stated, this is an important area for growth as far as Minoan is concerned - with the ultimate aim of creating a travel business which will improve profits incrementally through management input, synergies and marketing. This, in turn will underpin the development of our project in Crete as well as create a valuable stand alone business."
Share Issue
In order to satisfy certain existing commitments, the Company has agreed to issue 2,012,424 new ordinary shares of 1p each in the Company at 15 pence per share.
The Directors' beneficial shareholdings are 1,841,223 ordinary shares, representing 2.17% of the issued share capital as enlarged following this share issue.
Application has been made for the 2,012,424 new ordinary shares to be admitted to trading on AIM ("Admission") and it is expected that Admission will be effective from 14 April 2011. Following Admission, there will be a total of 84,843,365 ordinary shares in issue. This figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, Minoan under the FSA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
For further information visit www.minoangroup.com or contact:
Minoan Group Plc
Christopher Egleton christopher.egleton@minoangroup.com
Bill Cole 020 8253 4305
Seymour Pierce Limited 020 7107 8000
Nicola Marrin/David Foreman (Corporate Finance)
Marianne Woods (Corporate Broking)
Rivington Street Corporate Finance Limited 020 7562 3384
Dru Edmonstone
Bishopsgate Communications Limited 020 7562 3350
Nick Rome/Michael Kinirons