DGAP-News: TOMORROW FOCUS AG / Key word(s): Disposal
TOMORROW FOCUS AG sells EliteMedianet GmbH to Oakley Capital Private
Equity
08.06.2015 / 17:23
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Corporate News
TOMORROW FOCUS AG sells EliteMedianet GmbH to Oakley Capital Private Equity
Munich, Germany, 8 June 2015 - TOMORROW FOCUS AG has agreed to sell
EliteMedianet GmbH, which operates the premium online dating agency
ElitePartner. The purchaser is THMMS Holding GmbH, a subsidiary of Oakley
Capital Private Equity II. The transaction reflects TOMORROW FOCUS AG's
strategic realignment towards transaction-based business models centred on
the travel industry.
ElitePartner is one of the leading online dating agencies in the
German-speaking region of Europe. The service was launched in Germany in
2004 and in Austria and Switzerland a year later. The company is based in
Hamburg, Germany, and has a workforce of around eighty. In the financial
year 2014 EliteMedianet generated revenue in the region of EUR 28 million
and EBITDA of EUR 2.6 million.
Oakley Capital is a private equity firm based in London, and the Oakley
Capital Group has assets under management of around EUR 750 million. It
invests primarily in fast-growing companies in the UK and Western Europe
and in April 2015 acquired Parship GmbH, which operates an online dating
agency by the same name.
The sale of EliteMedianet GmbH is expected to generate a total of EUR 23.3
million for TOMORROW FOCUS AG based on an anticipated sale price of EUR
22.0 million. An amount of EUR 14.8 million is payable on completion of the
sale. TOMORROW FOCUS AG will provide a loan with a term of up to two years
to cover the remaining sum of EUR 7.2 million. On scheduled repayment of
this loan at the end of the term, TOMORROW FOCUS AG will also receive
interest due of up to EUR 1.3 million. The total figure is equivalent to 9
times the EBITDA generated by EliteMedianet GmbH in 2014.
Between 2007 and 2015, the company will have generated and transferred to
the Group an accumulated net cash inflow of around EUR 13 million.
At Group level, the sale of EliteMedianet GmbH will produce an estimated
loss of around EUR 2 million and will necessitate a valuation adjustment of
EUR 3 million to deferred taxes on loss carryforwards. In TOMORROW FOCUS
AG's single-entity financial statements based on the German Commercial Code
(Handelsgesetzbuch, HGB), the sale will generate a book profit of around
EUR 1 million.
The acquisition of EliteMedianet GmbH by Oakley Capital Private Equity is
subject to approval under anti-cartel legislation. Assuming this approval
is granted, the sale is expected to close in the third quarter of 2015.
Christoph Schuh, Member of the Management Board at TOMORROW FOCUS AG,
explained the rationale behind the move: 'We are making rapid progress with
the implementation of our new strategy, which involves focusing on business
models in the online travel sector. Following the successful sale of our
publishing activities back in April, with Oakley Capital we have now found
the ideal, financially strong partner for EliteMedianet. Under the
management of its new owner Oakley Capital, which also acquired Parship
GmbH in April, we believe that ElitePartner has excellent prospects for
growth. We would like to say a big thank you to all the team at
ElitePartner, including of course CEO Dr Jost Schwaner, for all their great
work in the past years. We wish them every success in the future.'
Mark Joseph, a partner at Oakley Capital, expressed his satisfaction at the
outcome: 'We're delighted to have reached agreement on a deal to acquire
ElitePartner, which is an extremely strong brand in the online dating
market. Following our recent acquisition of Parship, we are excited about
the growth prospects for both of these companies and brands.'
The total net income generated by TOMORROW FOCUS AG from the sale of
Tomorrow Focus Publishing GmbH and EliteMedianet GmbH will be around EUR
53,5 million. Under IFRS rules, the net book profit from both transactions
will be around EUR 21 million. The Management Board plans to use the cash
inflow to repay a loan of EUR 14.5 million and to invest in further organic
and non-organic growth in its Travel segment.
About TOMORROW FOCUS AG
TOMORROW FOCUS AG (ISIN DE005495329) is based in Munich, Germany, and is
one of the leading exchange-listed Internet groups in Germany. The
company's main business models are based on digital transactions,
predominantly in the travel sector. The Group has a workforce of around
500, and its business operations are divided into the segments Travel and
Subscription.
The Travel segment includes HOLIDAYCHECK AG, which operates a number of
hotel review and travel booking portals by the same name; WEBASSETS B.V.,
which operates the ZOOVER hotel review portals and the
METEOVISTA/WEERONLINE weather portals; and TOMORROW TRAVEL B.V., which
operates the Dutch online travel agent TJINGO.
The Subscription segment is made up of ELITEMEDIANET GmbH, which operates
the premium online dating agency ELITEPARTNER.de; JAMEDA GmbH, which
operates the physician rating portal JAMEDA.de; and ORGANIZE.ME GmbH, which
operates an app-based document organisation and reminder system.
About Oakley Capital Private Equity:
Oakley Capital Private Equity II is an unlisted mid-market private equity
fund with the aim of providing investors with significant long term capital
appreciation. Its investment strategy is to focus on buy-out opportunities
in industries with the potential for growth, consolidation and performance
improvement. The Fund seeks to invest in companies with scale in their
industry subsectors, thereby creating a sustainable earnings stream which
should command a premium on exit.
Media and investor contact at TOMORROW FOCUS AG:
TOMORROW FOCUS AG
Armin Blohmann
Neumarkter Strasse 61
81673 München
Germany
phone +49 (0)89 9250-1256
fax +49 (0)89 9250-2403
email a.blohmann@tomorrow-focus.de
www.tomorrow-focus.de
http://twitter.com/tomorrowfocus
http://facebook.de/tomorrowfocus
http://youtube.com/tomorrowfocus
Media and investor contact at Oakley Capital:
FTI Consulting
Emily Desmier
Tel.: +44 (0) 20 3727 1233
E-Mail: emily.desmier@fticonsulting.com
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08.06.2015 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a
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Language: English
Company: TOMORROW FOCUS AG
Neumarkter Str. 61
81673 München
Germany
Phone: +49 (0)89 9250-1256
Fax: +49 (0)89 9250-2403
E-mail: a.blohmann@tomorrow-focus.de
Internet: www.tomorrow-focus.de
ISIN: DE0005495329
WKN: 549532
Listed: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Regulated
Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover,
Munich, Stuttgart
End of News DGAP News-Service
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366211 08.06.2015
DGAP-News: TOMORROW FOCUS AG sells EliteMedianet GmbH to Oakley Capital Private Equity
| Source: EQS Group AG