New Investments

 

TIDMHCTA 
 
RNS Number : 8487S 
Hecta Media Inc. 
27 May 2009 
 

For Immediate Release 
27th May 2009 
 
 
Hecta Media Inc. 
("Hecta Media" or the "Company") 
New investments 
Proposed Board changes and 
 Proposed change of name to Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd. 
 
 
The Board of Hecta Media (AIM: HCTA) is pleased to announce that it has today 
completed an investment in dotNYC LLC and DotEco LLC which both operate in the 
top level domain space. As announced in our audited results in April, existing 
top level domains ("TLDs") are open to registrants worldwide and include .com, 
.net, and .org. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers 
("ICANN") recently announced its intention to allow qualified parties to apply 
to own and operate new generic TLDs ("gTLDs"). Hecta Media intends to take 
advantage of the opportunity created by this proposed change by expanding its 
portfolio vertically into top level domain names and investing in gTLD 
applicants and infrastructure technologies. 
 
 
Investment in dotNYC LLC (www.dotnyc.net) 
Hecta Media has both purchased existing interests and subscribed for further 
interests making up a total of a 23.5 per cent. interest in dotNYC LLC 
(www.dotnyc.net), for a cash consideration of US$180,000, financed from its 
current cash resources. dotNYC LLC is a New York City-based business that is 
applying for the ".nyc" top level domain for New York City and intends to use 
the proceeds of the investment together with its other funds to support its 
application costs and fund awareness and marketing campaigns. The Company 
expects that a decision will be made by ICANN in mid 2010. 
 
 
The management team of dotNYC LLC has launched five successful top level 
domains, advised a number of other top level domain companies and created the 
model for public-private partnerships for geographic-based web addresses. The 
founder and chief executive officer of dotNYC LLC is Antony Van Couvering who 
has been working with domain names and Internet infrastructure since 1996. 
Antony was an ICANN founder and founder and chief executive officer in 1996 of 
NetNames USA, the first company devoted to working with domain names on an 
international basis. Netnames was sold in 1998 to English web-hosting company, 
NetBenefit. In 1999 Antony founded NameEngine, an Internet services company 
handling domain names and other internet protocol assets for major corporations, 
which was sold to VeriSign in December 2001. Following the sale Antony worked 
for VeriSign for two years, in their Digital Brand Management Unit. 
 
 
Investment in DotEco LLC (www.dotecotld.com) 
Hecta Media has also today subscribed for a 10.0 per cent. interest (on a fully 
diluted basis) in DotEco LLC (www.dotecotld.com) for a cash consideration of 
US$200,000, financed from its current cash resources. The Board anticipates that 
the Company's interest in DotEco LLC may well be diluted over time as DotEco LLC 
raises additional capital in future. 
 
 
DotEco LLC, which is based in California, intends to build an 
environmentally-focused gTLD. DotEco LLC recently entered into an integrated 
partnership with former US Vice President Al Gore and the Alliance for Climate 
Protection which supports Dot Eco LLC's efforts to raise awareness about the 
dangers of climate change. DotEco LLC intends to submit an application with 
ICANN for the eco top level domain. The Company expects that the application and 
approval process could take up to 24 months. 
 
 
Fred Krueger and Clark Landry, directors of the Company, are both founder 
shareholders of DotEco LLC. Fred Krueger has also subscribed for a further 10.0 
per cent. investment (on a fully diluted basis) in DotEco LLC on the same terms 
as the Company.  On completion of the subscription, Fred Kreuger will have an 
interest of 60.4 per cent. and Clark Landry will have a 24.87 per cent. fully 
diluted interest in DotEco LLC. Fred Krueger is the Chief Executive and Clark 
Landry is Chief Operating Officer of DotEco LLC and each receives a salary of 
US$5,000 per month from DotEco LLC. 
 
 
The proposed investment by the Company in DotEco LLC is a related party 
transaction for the purposes of Rule 13 of the AIM Rules. The Independent 
Directors of the Company (being David Weill, Guy Elliott and Michael Mendelson), 
having consulted with Beaumont Cornish Limited, the Company's nominated adviser, 
unanimously consider the terms of the proposed investment by the Company in 
DotEco LLC are fair and reasonable insofar as the Company's Shareholders are 
concerned. 
 
 
Investment in Minds+Machines Inc. (www.mindsandmachines.com) 
The Company has also today conditionally subscribed for a 35.11 per cent. 
interest, fully diluted, in top level domain registry services provider 
Minds+Machines Inc.  (www.mindsandmachines.com) for a cash consideration of 
US$501,000. The subscription price paid by the Company is the same as the 
founder members of Minds+Machines Inc. 
 
 
Minds+Machines Inc., which was founded in 2008 by Antony Van Couvering, is a 
full-service consulting and registry services company that provides a complete 
registry solution for new TLD applicants. Minds+Machines Inc. has secured an 
exclusive license to extend the CoCCA registry platform, currently deployed in 
over 20 countries, to new generic TLDs. 
 
 
Minds+Machines Inc.'s management team have previously launched or helped launch 
over 20 top-level domains, with business models ranging from small community 
TLDs to large commercial enterprises. In addition, they have owned and operated 
ICANN-accredited registrars, managed reseller channels, developed domain name 
systems software and overseen global DNS roll-outs. 
 
 
Fred Krueger and Clark Landry, directors of the Company, are both founder 
shareholders of Minds+Machines Inc. and on completion of the subscription by 
Hecta Media will have a fully diluted interest of 31.53 per cent. and 6.94 per 
cent. respectively in Minds+Machines Inc. Fred Krueger is the President of 
Minds+Machines Inc. and Clark Landry is Vice President, Business Development and 
each receives a salary of US$5,000 per month from Minds+Machines Inc. 
 
 
The proposed investment by the Company in Minds+Machines Inc. is a related party 
transaction for the purposes of Rule 13 of the AIM Rules. The Independent 
Directors of the Company (being David Weill, Guy Elliott and Michael Mendelson), 
having consulted with Beaumont Cornish Limited, the Company's nominated adviser, 
unanimously consider the terms of the proposed investment by the Company in 
Minds+Machines Inc. are fair and reasonable insofar as the Company's 
Shareholders are concerned. 
 
 
The completion of the investment in Minds+Machines Inc. is conditional on the 
approval by shareholders of the modified investment strategy for the Company at 
the Annual General Meeting of the Company, notice of which is expected to be 
sent to shareholders shortly. 
 
 
Financial Effects 
The aggregate cash consideration for the investments in DotNYC LLC, DotEco LLC 
and Minds+Machines Inc. amounts to US$881,000. Following completion, the 
Company's cash balances will amount to approximately US$3,158,054. dotNYC 
LLC, Minds+Machines Inc. and DotEco LLC are start-up ventures and to date have 
not prepared any financial statements. 
 
 
Company name change 
The Directors have also decided that given the importance of the activity in 
TLDs the Company will change its name to Top Level Domain Holdings Limited. 
 
 
Chief Financial Officer appointment 
David Weill, currently an Executive Director of the Company, has today also been 
appointed as Chief Financial Officer. 
 
 
David Weill, Chief Financial Officer said: 
 
 
"I am excited about the investment opportunities in the new top level domain 
space and our key executives' proven ability to secure impact TLDs through their 
network of contacts based on their track record of success in Internet 
businesses. The Company's financial and human capital coupled with its ability 
to raise additional funds in future, if desired, should provide our portfolio 
companies with substantial resources. We look forward to growing our portfolio 
of investments further in this area and are positive about the future of our 
company." 
 
 
ENDS 
 
 
 
 
Further Information: 
 
 
Top Level Domain Holdings Limited. 
David Weill    Tel:  [phone] 
 
 
Beaumont Cornish Limited 
Roland Cornish 
Michael Cornish    Tel [phone] 
 
 
gth media relations 
Toby Hall /Christian PickelTel: [phone]/8036 
 
 
Or visit the group's website at www.hectamedia.comand 
www.tldh.org 
 
 
 
 
 
This information is provided by RNS 
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange 
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