Media Corporation plc, a leading internet media and marketing Company, has acquired fast growing financial portal operator Result Online Limited as part of its strategic expansion.
Result Online owns the top rated credit card comparison website Credit Card Expert, a comprehensive guide highlighting the best deals available and giving general credit card tips to consumers. It provides information on most major credit cards including Barclaycard, American Express and MBNA.
Media Corp Chief Executive Justin Drummond said: "This acquisition is a major step for Media Corp and fits perfectly with our strategy of further diversification into the lucrative personal finance and travel markets.
"The deal also offers good synergies for us. Result Online uses a competitor of Search Focus, Media Corp&39;s search business, for its paid search advertising. In addition, Eyeconomy, our online media agency business, has its main advertising client base in the personal finance market."
Result Online, established by Stephen Hewitt in 2003, has quickly grown into a highly profitable operator in the personal finance market. In the period ended 31 July 2006, the company generated a gross profit of &163;0.55 million and a pre-profit tax of &163;0.43 million.
Media Corp will make an initial payment of &163;1.57 million and pay earn outs of 25% of adjusted pre-tax profits to end September 2009 based on the business achieving pre-tax profit of at least &163;0.35 million each year and which are capped at &163;1.5 million.
The London Stock Exchange listed Media Corp&39;s after-tax profit soared by 660% to &163;2.5m in the year to end September this year compared to 2005 and its cash balance almost doubled to &163;5.3 million, providing the resources for both organic growth and further acquisitions.
"The characteristics of the personal finance market are almost identical to the gaming industry in that customer acquisition costs and customer churn are both very high. This makes these markets particularly attractive for Media Corp&39;s search advertising business," Mr. Drummond said.
"This deal will be the first of many in the fast growing personal finance and travel markets as we execute our strategy of building a major internet media and marketing business."
Result Online generates income through affiliate deals where credit card operators pay for credit card applications and related cost per click search advertising.
The creditcardexpert site has top listings in the major search engines for "credit cards" and other related search terms. Result Online websites receive over 80,000 unique visitors a month and generate over 30,000 credit card applications a year.
Mr. Hewitt, previously marketing manager in credit card customer acquisition for HFC Bank plc, will continue as Managing Director of the business.
Enquiries:
Media Corporation plc
Justin Drummond, Chief Executive Officer
Paul Tuson, Group Finance Director
+44 (0)20 7618 9000
Notes to editors:
Listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, Media Corp, is a leading internet media and advertising Company focused on search, publishing and media sales. The company has three principal divisions:
Search - The vertical search specialists - building sector specific search engines for advertisers to communicate in a highly targeted environment with their particular audience. All of our Search and Media products are powered by our own high performance proprietary technology. We can therefore partner with your online businesses to offer "White Label" services across a number of key vertical markets. Search Focus.
Publishing - Media Corp has a diverse publishing division ranging from online to printed media. Our impressive stable of websites includes a number of market leading sites including OnTheBox, http://www.casino.co.uk.
Media - Eyeconomy was formed in 1996, and is a separate operating division of Media Corporation.
Eyeconomy specialises in the various sectors of online marketing and advertising, such as online media planning and buying, as well as managing online media campaigns for clients including AOL, Dell and American Express.
See http://www.mediacorpplc.com
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