18 Apr 2011 07:00
THE WEATHER LOTTERY PLC
("TWL or the 'Company")
Acquisition of Soccerdome Limited
18 April 2011
The board of directors of TWL (the "Board") is pleased to announce that it has agreed terms to acquire the entire issued share capital of Soccerdome Limited ("Soccerdome"), which owns and runs a five-a-side football facility in Nottingham. The terms outlined below are subject to final agreed contracts; however the key terms of the acquisition are not expected to be altered. The Company will provide a further update to the market once the acquisition process has proceeded further, including further information on the acquisition.
Soccerdome will be purchased for a consideration of £375,000, to be settled by the issue of 75,000,000 new ordinary shares of 0.1p each in the Company, at an issue price of 0.5p per share (the "Consideration Shares"). Soccerdome made an operating loss of approximately £10,000 in the year to 31 January 2011 and had gross operating assets of approximately £505,000. TWL has also agreed to enter into a consultancy agreement with the vendor of Soccerdome, Reginald Brearley, to develop organically and by acquisition other five-a-side football facilities in the UK. Mr. Brearley was one of the founding investors and developers of Glasgow Open Air Leisure Services, which went on to become Goals Soccer Centres plc and become a market leader in the UK in the provision of five-a-side football facilities. Mr. Brearley has significant experience within the football industry as a former Chairman of Sheffield United Football Club and his experience should be valuable in developing the Company's broader links within the football sector. He has demonstrated his confidence in the future of the business by agreeing to an all share consideration. Mr. Brearley will hold 21.89% of the enlarged ordinary share capital of the Company if the acquisition of Soccerdome is completed.
The acquisition, when completed, will be a further expansion into the football related leisure industry, following the Company's expansion in this sector last year. The Board believes that it complements the Company's other activities, in particular the lottery business, and that there are significant cross selling opportunities for the Company's lottery and gaming products amongst the users of the Soccerdome facilities. The Board also believes that the acquisition of a business with a tangible asset base in the sports and leisure related sector will complement the more volatile gaming and lottery operations.
An update will be provided to the market once the acquisition process has proceeded further, including additional information on the acquisition.
Lord Razzall CBE commented, "we are pleased to have agreed, on what we believe are favourable terms, the acquisition of a sound business for which there is continuing demand. In recent years five-a-side centres have become a major venue for the social leisure and exercise activities of the population. TWL is keen to develop as a major player in this market. We welcome the experience and knowledge of the vendor to help us achieve this".
For further information contact:
The Weather Lottery PLC
Ross White 01777 818036
Website www.theweatherlottery.com
Religare Capital Markets (Nomad) 020 7444 0800
Nick Harriss/Peter Trevelyan-Clark
SVS Securities (Broker) 020 7638 5600
Ian Callaway/Alex Mattey