XLMedia PLC Acquisition (1238T)

TIDMXLM

RNS Number : 1238T

XLMedia PLC

03 January 2017

 
For immediate release  3 January 2017 
 

XLMedia PLC

("XLMedia" or "the Group" or "the Company")

Acquisition of leading Canadian Credit Card comparison website

Key strategic publishing acquisition in the financial services sector

XLMedia (AIM: XLM), a leading provider of digital performance marketing, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Greedyrates.ca ("Greedyrates"), one of Canada's leading credit card comparison websites, for a total consideration of US$9.3 million. The consideration is payable in cash. The acquisition is expected to complete during the first quarter of 2017 and is expected to be earnings enhancing following completion.

Financial services is a key growth vertical for the Group and the acquisition of Greedyrates is XLMedia's first significant publishing asset in this sector. The acquisition will significantly enhance the Company's presence in North America and is a further demonstration of XLMedia's ability to diversify its revenue streams.

The Company will integrate Greedyrates into its proprietary Palcon infrastructure to enable improved day to day maintenance and performance and intends to further develop XLMedia's offering and geographical reach within financial services. The acquisition agreement includes additional domains which the Company also plans to use and develop.

The credit card and payment card markets continue to grow, with projected CAGR of purchase transactions by credit cards(1) of 4.52% in Canada and 6.36% in the US for 2014 to 2024. The Board believes this anticipated growth market offers significant opportunity for future growth and expansion.

Ory Weihs, Chief Executive Officer of XLMedia, commented:

"We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Greedyrates, our first significant publishing asset in the financial services sector. As a leading credit card comparison site Greedyrates is a household name in Canada and, with its existing footprint and brand recognition, it represents an excellent opportunity for XLMedia to increase its North American presence and establish a foothold in the financial services market.

"There is significant opportunity within the financial services sector and we believe this acquisition will be the catalyst to our operations in the sector, which could be a significant future growth engine for the Group."

XLMedia continues to trade in line with expectations and expects to provide a more comprehensive trading update for the full year ended 31 December 2016 during January 2017.

(1) The Nielson report 2016. Purchase transactions are payments of goods and services generated by general purpose payment cards

For further information, please contact:

 
 XLMedia plc Ory Weihs www.xlmedia.com   Tel: [phone] 
 Vigo Communications Jeremy Garcia       Tel: [phone] 
  / Fiona Henson www.vigocomms.com 
 Cenkos Securities plc (Nomad            Tel: [phone] 
  and Joint Broker) Ivonne Cantu 
  / Camilla Hume www.cenkos.com 
 Berenberg (Joint Broker) Chris          Tel: [phone] 
  Bowman / Mark Whitmore / Amritha 
  Murali www.berenberg.com 
 

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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January 03, 2017 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)