Sigmaroc. Regulatory News (SRC)

3 Aug 2005 10:03

Messaging International Plc03 August 2005 Messaging International Plc / Market: AIM / Epic: MES / Sector: Technology 3 August 2005 Messaging International Plc 'First Day of Dealings on AIM' Messaging International Plc ('Messaging International' or 'the Company'), the100% owner of TeleMessage Limited - www.TeleMessage.com, an Israeli and US basedprovider of innovative messaging services, is pleased to announce that itsshares began trading on AIM today. The Company raised £1.5 million through theissue of 30 million shares at 5p giving it a market capitalisation of £5.77million. The proceeds of the Placing will be used to reinforce its marketposition in the Americas, develop sales and marketing internationally andprovide general working capital. In essence, the Company has developed a comprehensive messaging softwareplatform that enables communication by messaging to and from any communicationdevice. The market for multi platform messaging products is growing rapidly. A researchpublished by Forrester Research forecasts that by 2007 the US messaging marketalone will be worth US$6.4 billion (Sizing the US Mobile Messaging Market,Forrester Research, Inc., July 30, 2004). Messaging International ispositioning itself to take advantage of this opportunity through its userfriendly products and by utilizing its managements proven skills in thetechnology sector. The Company offers messaging services and products that enable serviceproviders, enterprises and individuals to send, receive, and manage voice, textand multimedia messages from various communication mediums - the Internet,Microsoft Outlook, WAP-enabled devices or any fixed-line or mobile phone.Multimedia messages can be sent to individuals or groups and to manycommunication devices, including landline phone, mobile phone, fax, email, MMS,SMS, Instant Messaging, and pager. Once these messages are received, they can bereplied to, or forwarded to, any communication medium. Messaging International targets both individual and corporate customers. Itmarkets its products through service providers, corporates, and OEMs. So far ithas signed agreements with several service providers and a number of largecorporate clients. A further seven service providers have products on trial. TheCompany's revenue comes from licensing fees to service providers and corporatesor through a revenue sharing agreement with the service provider (also availableon a hosted platform). Messaging International has a positive sales pipeline, is debt free and has taxlosses of approximately £4 million. Messaging International Chairman Horacio Furman said: "We have developed what webelieve is the most comprehensive messaging platform that enables people toadopt its applications to communicate easily with each other through mostcommunication devices, both old and new. We already have an extensive blue chipclient base and with further finance we aim to stay ahead of our competition andtake advantage of the incredible revenue potential in the sector." Additional information on Messaging International Plc Messaging International's 100% owned subsidiary, TeleMessage Limited, wasfounded in 1999 and has 24 employees and offices in the Boston area and Israel.Over the past six years the Company received approximately $13.8 millioninvestments from a consortium of international venture capitalists. The fundswere used to finance the development of cross platform media messagingmanagement systems, to build a sales and marketing team and to secure theinitial client base and to support those clients. The market opportunities lie in the continuous use of mature messagingapplications like voicemail, fax and email and the expanding interest and growthof emerging end user messaging markets such as short message service ('SMS'),email, Instant messaging ('IM') and multimedia messaging system ('MMS'). TheCompany has developed systems that give a seamless exchange of all messagingtypes across all platforms. The value of its technology and products resides inthe ability to harmonize various media platforms to act as a virtual seamlessmessaging network across many technologies. The Company has submitted a patent application that protects several aspects ofits technology so that users who receive an SMS or MMS via the Company's systemwill be able to reply via one click to other devices. The growth in PCpenetration, internet and email use has created a demand for simple PC tomobile, and email to mobile messaging tools and services. In addition, theMessaging International has developed products that use technology which allowstraditional and emerging messaging applications to interact. The two main products are SMS to Landline and Mail Plug-in: •The SMS to Landline solution is designed to enable a user to send a text message from their wireless phone to a landline phone. The software converts the SMS to a voice message and plays it to the recipient. The recipient can reply using their own voice. The reply is sent back to the original sender's wireless phone as an SMS prompting the retrieval of the voice reply. •Mail Plug-in enables the user to send emails to anyone on a range of devices. It is as convenient to use as sending a regular email - the difference is in that it enables the message to be delivered to SMS text messages, MMS messages, landline phones and fax machines. It also allows the receipt of notifications about new email and appointment reminders. The highly respected Board and management team have many years experiencebetween them with proven track records in telecoms and finance: •Horacio Furman, aged 58, Chairman, has been involved with the Company since its creation. He has years of experience in the sales of telecommunications technologies in China and Europe through his activity in Estevan International Ltd., a telecoms equipment sales company and as Executive Vice President for Projects at UDI, Inc., a trading company, where he was head of the China operations. He is CEO of Prideway Holdings Ltd and a director of Arba Finance Company Ltd, and Picom Software Systems Ltd. Mr Furman was previously a director of the Israel Corporation (listed in Israel). •Guy Levit, aged 34, Chief Executive Officer, and founder member, has held various sales, marketing and operational positions within the Company. Prior to this, he was the head of the Planning and Development department of an elite technical unit in the Intelligence corps of the Israeli Defence Force (I.D.F). Previously Mr Levit was an engineer in the I.D.F R&D subdivision. •Irvin Fishman, aged 55, Finance Director, qualified as a chartered accountant in 1974 and has been a Partner in Auerbach Hope, Chartered Accountants, since 1978. He held the position of Finance Director at Entertainment Rights Plc, a fully quoted public company for several years before more recently becoming a Non-Executive Director and Chairman of its Audit Committee. •David Rubner, aged 65, Non-Executive Director, is chairman and chief executive officer of Rubner Technology Ventures Ltd. and partner in Hyperion Israel Advisors Ltd., a venture capital firm. From 1991 to 2000, David was president and chief executive officer of ECI Telecom Ltd. (NYSE: ECIL), one of Israel's largest telecommunication equipment companies. Amongst other directorships, he is also a director of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP) •Geoffrey Simmonds FCA aged 62 Non-Executive is chief executive officer of Westside Acquisitions and is non executive chairman of York Pharma plc, both AIM traded companies as well as Reverse Takeover Investments. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1966 and has extensive involvement and experience in corporate and strategic planning, acquisitions and finance. •Other key management include Mark Carlin, Sales North America, who has held various sales and marketing positions in large multi-national companies; Gil Shapira, Vice President Business Development, who previously served in the Israeli Air Force as a computer programmer, project manager and team leader of a special R&D software development unit; and Benny Bornfeld, VP Research and Development, who has over 13 years of experience in designing, developing and delivering advanced software/hardware products. * * ENDS * * Contacts: Guy Levit Messaging International plc Tel: 00 972 544 449 951Isabel Crossley St Brides Media & Finance Ltd Tel: 0044 (0) 20 7242 4477 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange