Last checked at 26 Aug 2009 07:00
Press Release 26 August 2009
Ten Alps plc
Ten Alps Asia is launched in Singapore
through acquisition of factual TV company Uproar Asia PTE Limited
Ten Alps Plc (AIM:TAL) ("Ten Alps" or the "Company"), the factual media company, today announces that it has launched Ten Alps Asia in Singapore, and commenced Asian operations through the acquisition and re-branding of factual TV production company, Uproar Asia PTE Limited and its slate of programmes including Vietnamese, Malaysian and US TV coverage. Ten Alps aims to replicate its UK multiplatform factual model in Asian markets.
In addition, Ten Alps has acquired the UK operations of Uproar Productions and will form part of its factual TV subsidiary, Blakeway Productions.
The maximum consideration payable under this transaction will be approximately £562,000, which includes an initial up-front cash payment of £30,000. Such consideration includes an earnout which is based on a sliding scale, on delivery per annum of between £25,000 an £200,000 profits before tax of Ten Alps PV Asia and the acquired UK operations of Uproar Productions over a two year period. The earnout is payable in cash although up to 30% could be payable in the form of shares in the Company. The decision as to the method of payment for this consideration will be at Ten Alps' sole discretion.
Ten Alps will add a significant commercial division to its operations in Singapore, and as a first step, plans to include advertising sales for those of its UK print and online products with an Asian editorial footprint. Ten Alps will also look to develop specific Asian media opportunities. The Company will form a local commercial resource to deliver on this potential.
TV production from Singapore
Ten Alps Asia now has a Singapore-based TV production slate which includes ''First Time Filmmakers - Vietnam'', a year-long documentary competition in association with The Ford Foundation and The Discovery Network Asia. It also has a six-part environmental series to be distributed through Content Films called "Nature Versus Nature". Additionally, new programmes are also under production for the US market.
Ten Alps Asia's slate of programmes and the Singapore TV production office will be headed by the BAFTA award winning New Zealand-born executive Sarah Macdonald. Sarah spent five years from 1997 to 2001 working for the BBC's flagship current affairs programme, Newsnight, before directing a series of investigations for Channel 4's ''Dispatches'' strand. These included one of the first investigations in to the CIA's Extraordinary Rendition programme; going undercover into Burma and working with North Korean dissident film-makers helping to smuggle their footage to the outside world which resulted in "Undercover in the Secret State". Sarah also produced and directed the award-winning BBC Panorama ''Sex Crimes & the Vatican'', the fourth film in a series about child sexual abuse by Catholic priests.
On the new operations of Ten Alps in Singapore, Ms Macdonald, said that, "Singapore is a good place to base ourselves for markets across Asia, and we have found positive engagement with the Media Development Authority and Economic Development Board, which we plan to further explore."
On the launch of Ten Alps' operations in Singapore, Alex Connock, Ten Alps CEO, said that "This is a first step in a plan to leverage our content and communications skills into the fast-growing Asian markets, where we believe factual TV production, publishing and communications services in offline and online media are strong opportunities."
We will build carefully in Asia against our existing asset base and aim to expand the operation using our proven commercial models."
| Ten Alps plc | |
| Alex Connock, CEO | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7878 2311 |
| c/o Moira McManus | |
| www.tenalps.com | |
| Grant Thornton Corporate Finance, Nominated Adviser | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7383 5100 |
| Fiona Owen / Robert Beenstock | |
| Canaccord Adams, Broker | |
| Mark Williams / Adria Da Breo Richards | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7050 6500 |
| www.canaccordadams.com | |
| Pelham Public Relations | |
| Alex Walters / Francesca Tuckett | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7337 1500 |
| www.pelhampr.com |