bluefreeway to acquire four companies

BlueFreeway (ASX: BLU) Announcement
BlueFreeway to acquire four companies – expanding its global digital marketing service offering
Sydney, Australia – Tuesday 18th September 2007: BlueFreeway (www.bluefreeway.com), an independent global provider of digital marketing services, is pleased to announce that it has signed agreements to acquire four additional companies to its group, significantly enhancing its ability to secure major global contracts by expanding its offering and presence in the United States, United Kingdom, France and Latin America.
BlueFreeway has entered into agreements to acquire:
 100 per cent of global media planning and buying software and services provider - Fivia;
 51 per cent of UK digital design agency - Holler, with the remaining 49 per cent to be acquired over three years;
 51 per cent of web analytics company – Certifica.com, with the remaining 49 per cent to be acquired over three years; and
 27 per cent of Melbourne based digital marketing agency - Clear Light Digital, with the remaining 73 per cent to be acquired over five years.
The combined sum for the initial payments of all four entities is AU$15.3m.
Revenue generated from the four companies is forecast to contribute an additional AU$17.2m to the BlueFreeway Group, which represents a 40 per cent increase on the company’s full year proforma revenue results for the 2007 financial year of AU$43.5m. The acquisitions expand BlueFreeway’s suite of products and service offerings and positions the group as one of the most comprehensive digital marketing solutions providers in the world.
All four companies are profitable and the acquisitions will be revenue and earnings accretive to BlueFreeway in the 2008 fiscal year.
Paris and New York based Fivia (www.fivia.com), is the oldest provider of automated inventory, order and billing management software for the media and advertising industry. Founded in 1999, the company’s flagship product AdFront 5.0 is a leading software solution for workflow automation, contract and financial management, designed specifically for Internet advertising. Fivia also offers state-of-the-art outsourced advertising operations solutions to leading publishers and advertisers,
and publishes Rate Card, a guide to the digital advertising industry in Europe. Its clients include: Orange, Microsoft, OMD, Telecom Italia and AOL.
Richard Webb, BlueFreeway Chief Executive Officer, comments on the Fivia acquisition: “This is an important strategic acquisition for BlueFreeway as it provides the group with the world’s best automated media planning and buying software and expands our full service offering to clients. Further, it expands our geographic footprint and client networks in Europe and the United States.”
Cofounder of Fivia and President, Frédéric Sadarnac is delighted to be joining the BlueFreeway Group, saying: “Our shared vision of making advertising via the internet easier and more profitable is the key to this opportunity. We look forward to working together with BlueFreeway to grow and improve our product offerings, and to help our clients drive revenue and realise measurable success.”
BlueFreeway is also announcing today the acquisition of award winning, London based, digital design agency, Holler (www.holler.co.uk). Founded in 2001, Holler specialises in digital design, strategy, technical development, marketing and planning. Its client list includes: BMG, Nike, Universal, Penguin, Warner Music, Westfield, Channel 4, Yahoo, MTV and Sony. It was recently appointed by global bank, ABM AMRO to build a website to showcase its corporate social responsibility initiatives. In late 2006 Holler established a presence in Sydney.
BlueFreeway Managing Director Europe, Martin Filz, who commenced operations in London for the group in April, comments on the announcement: “As one of the leading digital design specialists in the United Kingdom, it is with tremendous excitement that we welcome Holler into the BlueFreeway Group. With its enviable client register, the depth and breadth of expertise that Holler offers perfectly complements the strategic plans and direction of BlueFreeway in Europe and worldwide.”
James Kirkham, Director at Holler said: “BlueFreeway is allowing us to retain autonomy whilst providing the tools and infrastructure to maximise the business. There are significant new business opportunities, as well as partnering with complimentary agencies and using shared software, intranet and hosting platforms that will help us to grow. This could ultimately provide the platform for Holler to expand further globally, following our first international office in Australia.”
In Chile, BlueFreeway has signed an agreement to acquire Certifica.com (www.certifica.com). Certifica.com is an Internet software company that provides web site traffic measurement, analysis, and auditing services. The Company’s products provide customers with reliable and comparable data, as well as the latest web site management and control tools, to help clients maximize the
value of on-line properties and information. Certifica.com is considered the de-facto standard for web metrics in most Latin American markets, and has over 1,000 web sites under measurement. The Company has a local presence in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Central America and the Caribbean.
Alejandro Fosk, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of the Company commented: “We consider BlueFreeway to be a perfect fit for us both in value proposition and in regards to its position in the global market. We believe Certifica´s world class technology in metrics will be an important contribution to the products and services offered in blu – BlueFreeway’s online marketing portal targeting Chief Marketing Officers worldwide. Also, Certifica´s regional presence and deep understanding of the Latin American market will be instrumental in positioning BlueFreeway as the global provider for new marketing services.”
Richard Webb continues “Bringing Certifica.com into our group expands our already significant expertise in web analytics; a marketing segment with potential for substantial growth. It positions us well to quickly become the largest provider of digital marketing services in Latin America.”
BlueFreeway will also acquire leading digital marketing agency Clear Light Digital (www.clearlightdigital.com). Based in Melbourne, Clear Light Digital offers a comprehensive solution to its clients including: Digital Strategy Consulting, Advertising Technology Solutions and Web Development. The Company has secured exclusive reselling rights in Australia and New Zealand for two significant technology applications - ad-serving platform, Atlas AdManager, and video advertising and content distribution platform, HIRO. Clients of the agency include: the Starlight Children’s Foundation, APN News and Media, Hertz, STA Travel, Prime Television, Network TEN, realestate.com.au, News Digital Media and IKEA.
Jamie Silver, Managing Director, Clear Light Digital comments on the announcement, “Clear Light Digital has achieved phenomenal growth since we launched the company two years ago. We have worked with many of Australia’s leading companies on some innovative projects and built a team of passionate, talented experts. Joining BlueFreeway provides us with an opportunity to continue that growth and take the Company to the next level. We are excited about the future and look forward to working with the BlueFreeway team and companies.”
“The founders of Clear Light Digital are some of Australia’s foremost interactive advertising thought leaders, we are very pleased they have agreed to join the BlueFreeway group as they will bring tremendous expertise to our team” said Richard Webb.
Today’s announcement increases the number of companies in the global BlueFreeway Group to 22.
About BlueFreeway www.bluefreeway.com
BlueFreeway (ASX: BLU) is an independent, global digital and interactive marketing communications company with stakes in a growing portfolio of digital and interactive marketing specialists, as well as BlueCentral, a leading hosting and business infrastructure company. BlueFreeway’s product development division recently announced the launch of blu. – a marketing portal designed specifically for marketing professionals to collaborate and network. The company has offices in Australia, Chile, China, France, India, Italy, Japan, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom, and the United States.
BlueFreeway offers a suite of end-to-end, internet and mobile marketing solutions, to major corporate and government advertisers. The Portfolio Companies in the BlueFreeway Group include: Blackglass, BlueArc Group, BlueCentral, Certifica.com, Clear Light Digital, Cogentis, Communicator Interactive, Deepend Sydney, Digicon, eHound, Fivia, Forty Two International, Holler, IBC, JSA Interactive, MassMedia Studios, Max Australia, SageMetrics, Spectrum Communications Group, Spin Communications, Tentacle, and Viva9.
For BlueFreeway inquiries please contact:
Ken McDonnell
Chief Finance Officer
BlueFreeway
Tel 61 2 9336 8503
Email [email protected]