Velti - Placing of Shares
Velti plc ("Velti" or “the Company”; LSE-AIM: VEL), a leading provider of mobile
platforms, applications and services for advertising agencies, media and mobile
operators, has raised approximately £7.5 million (€10.7 million) before expenses, via
a placing of 3,580,000 new ordinary shares of 5 pence each, at a price of 210p per
share, to institutional investors in the UK, Europe and North America.
Since coming to the AIM market in May 2006 Velti has experienced robust growth.
For the six months ended 30 June 2007, revenues increased by 83 per cent to €7.41
million (2006: €4.04 million) and profit before tax by 63 per cent to €1.16 million
(2006: €0.71 million). The key drivers of this positive performance were successful
repeat business from major customers and demand from new customers, as well as
the extended geographical footprint of the company.
In July 2007, the Company announced the creation of Ansible, a joint venture with
Interpublic Group to enable brands, agencies and content providers to develop and
deploy mobile advertising and marketing solutions on a global scale. Since starting
operations and with numerous proposals submitted to potential clients, the Board is
very encouraged by the early response to Ansible, confirming the Board’s belief in
the substantial future of the business.
Velti anticipates using the proceeds of the placing to accelerate the development of
Ansible, grow its business with mobile operators in mobile marketing and
advertising, further enhance its products and operating infrastructure, and fund
working capital needs stemming from rapid growth. Additional development will be
primarily around Velti’s market-leading mobile marketing and advertising offering, in
the areas of mobile user-generated content and social networks. Velti will also
strengthen its operating capabilities and infrastructure which includes increasing the
capacity of its operator-grade data centres.
Velti plans to expand its sales force to provide mobile marketing and advertising
platforms to operators in Western Europe, North America and Asia, as well as to
expand its indirect sales channels through relationships with major systems
integrators. Over the next six months, the company will be expanding its London
offices and will be opening new ones in San Francisco, Dubai and Beijing.
Alexandros Moukas, Velti’s Chief Executive said: “We are delighted with the positive
response to the placing we have received from both new and existing shareholders
and will use the funds raised to continue our strong and profitable growth.”
Application has been made for the new ordinary shares to be admitted to trading on
AIM and dealings are expected to commence on 26 October 2007. Following the
placing, there will be a total of 32,774,138 ordinary shares of 5 pence each in issue.
Ends
CONTACTS
Velti:
Alexandros Moukas, Chief Executive Officer +44 (0) 20 7633 5000
Pantelis Papageorgiou, Director of Finance
Bankside: +44 (0) 20 7367 8888
Simon Bloomfield or Steve Liebmann
RBC Capital Markets: +44 (0) 207 653 4667
Sarah Wharry