OBC.L Regulatory News (OBC)

18 Sep 2006 07:30

ADVFN PLC18 September 2006 News Release September 18, 2006 ADVFN Asian expansion with JV in burgeoning Chinese market - launching financial websites in China - ADVFN plc ("ADVFN") is pleased to announce that it has reached heads ofagreement for the formation of a joint venture company with Frame Well GroupLimited ("Frame Well") of Hong Kong. After successful Joint Ventures in Japan and Brazil, ADVFN is expanding itsAsian operations by joining forces with Frame Well to create ADVFN China. Thejoint venture will operate Chinese-language financial websites in the excitingfinancial market of China. ADVFN will provide its tried and tested technologyplatforms, global financial data and products including real-time streaming andstocks prices from the Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges. ADVFNChina's objective is to become one of China's top three stocks and financialdata providers in two years. During the start up phase of ADVFN China, ADVFN will be responsible for thetechnical aspects. Frame Well, headed by Rudy Chan, a direct investmententrepreneur and an operator of high-growth businesses in China and other Asianmarkets, will be responsible for finance, local content, sales, marketing andcustomer support of the operation. Clem Chambers, Chief Executive Officer of ADVFN commented: "Frame Well'srelationship with Venture Capitalists and the investment community in the PRCand Rudy's past involvement with China.com underpins the benefits of partneringin this territory. China offers excellent opportunities for ADVFN and this JointVenture gives us a solid platform to address this huge growth market. Using thesuccessful model of ADVFN Japan, ADVFN China is a major development for ADVFNand puts in place another piece in our global strategy." Rudy Chan, Chief Executive Officer of Frame Well said: "ADVFN China will aim tocapitalize on the growing demand in this market for access to local as well asworldwide stock market information. ADVFN's leading-edge tools, world-classservices and wide spectrum of financial data will be well received by Chineseinvestors." - ends - About Frame Well Headquartered in Hong Kong, Frame Well is funded and founded by angel investorsand a group of professionals from the fields of advertising, publishing and fundraising. It is a direct investment firm focusing aggressively on investing inand the operating of high-growth, cutting-edge businesses in China, Hong Kongand selected markets in Asia. The firm currently has investments and interestsin financial services, mobile games, mobile contents and applications, onlinecontents as well as video sharing, digital magazine and a state-of-the-art 3Donline, MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Play Game) businesses andcompanies in China and Asia. Frame Well plans to raise more funds to expand itsoperations and investment in China, as the country continues to fulfill itscommitments to WTO and open up its market. Rudy Chan, CEO of Frame Well, is a direct investment entrepreneur. He is devotedto developing business opportunities in China and selected markets in Asia. Heenjoys turning ideas into new business and has extensive know-how in venturecapital fund raising, direct investment, online and mobile content and servicesbusiness models. Prior to founding Frame Well, Chan worked and held seniormanagement positions in Morningside Asia - a very successful direct investmentand venture capital firm with diverse interests in US, China, Hong Kong andother parts of Asia, Next Media Group - a leading publisher in Hong Kong,Chinadotcom - the first Asian internet company listed in NASDAQ. He was anexecutive of IBM for eleven years working in IBM's various country as well asheadquarters operations in China / Hong Kong, Tokyo and New York. About ADVFN ADVFN (www.advfn.com) is Europe's number one stocks and shares Web site. Withfull real-time coverage of the London Stock Exchange, the euronext-liffe, OFEX,NASDAQ, Amex and NYSE, including FTSE, Dow and S&P indices, ADVFN providesprofessional quality information to the person on the street. ADVFN was established in the last quarter of 1999 and floated on AIM in March2000. It now has over 700,000 registered users who generate in excess of 38million page impressions a month. We currently cover the following areas in Europe and America: •Free real-time prices from the London Stock Exchange•EURONEXT-LIFFE•EURONEXT - Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam•NASDAQ•NYSE•AMEX•Italian Stock Exchange•CBOT•OFEX•FOREX•GTIS FOREX•NYMEX•COMEX•Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME)•Kansas Board of Trade•OneChicago•Russian stocks and indices•Canadian stocks, indices, options and derivatives•German stocks and indices - Xetra•Australian Stock Exchange•Fukuoka Stock Exchange•Sapporo Stock Exchange•Tokyo Stock Exchange•Irish stocks and indices•Mexican Exchange•Chilean Exchange•Greek stocks and indices•Singapore stocks and indices•Helsinki Stock Exchange•Stockholm Stock Exchange•Copenhagen Stock Exchange•Warsaw Stock Exchange•Swiss Indices•Johannesburg Stock Exchange and indices•Level 2 data•NASDAQ TotalViewSM data•Comprehensive fundamental data•Streaming stock charts, historic and intraday•CREST stock loan data•Portfolios•RNS and AFX news•UK's busiest financial bulletin boards•Historical data downloads•Stock monitors and filters•Covered Warrants•Trading signals•Investor Relations Web site solutions•PDA service•SMS stock quote service For further press information, please contact: Francesca De Franco on 020 70700932 E-mail francescad@advfn.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange