LINK Mobility Group ASA enters the Austrian market by acquiring Simple SMS
LINK Mobility Group ASA ("LINK"), one of Europe's leading and fastest growing providers of B2C mobile messaging and mobile services, has today entered into a definitive agreement for the acquisition of the Austrian mobile messaging companies Simple SMS GmbH and Simple SMS Wholesale GmbH (together "Simple SMS Group") from the seller Christoph Holubar.
Simple SMS Group is a specialist for web based platform & services for a huge range of professional mobile messaging for business customers. With a yearly increase of more than 24% in revenue in the last years it confirms that the companies’ solutions offer their customers a satisfied service, with special customizing and integration in existing business solutions. After nearly 11 years since starting the business, in March 2016, the full relaunch of the products has been a big success. The Simple SMS Group business expects to generate pro forma revenues of approximately EUR 2.1 million in 2017.
"I am really happy to announce that we have acquired Simple SMS Group which is a strong positioned mobile messaging provider in Austria with approximately 25% market share in the small and medium sized business segment. And we look forward to continue developing the Austrian market with existing and new services going forward" says Arild E. Hustad, CEO of LINK.
"We are proud of joining the LINK Mobility Group and to extend the existing business with additional services and a wide range of possible new opportunities for selling our products in Austria and Europe. With our great team we increased our business massive in the last years. Thanks to all members of our team for this great work. It was a great run so far, and together with LINK we will upgrade for the future of mobile messaging" says Christoph Holubar, founder/CEO and owner of Simple SMS Group.
The transaction will be structured as an acquisition by LINK of the sister companies Simple SMS GmbH and Simple SMS Wholesale GmbH. The agreed enterprise value of the transaction is EUR 2 million, on a cash-free and debt-free basis and assuming a normalized level of net working capital. The enterprise value is based on an estimated normalized EBITDA for 2017 of EUR 0.320 million multiplied by a factor of 6.25, and will be subject to adjustments if the actual EBITDA differs from the estimated EBITDA.
The purchase price under the transaction will, subject to customary adjustments, be settled as follows:
- 30% of the purchase price in cash upon closing,
- 50% of the purchase price in shares in LINK upon closing valued at the closing share price at the Oslo Stock Exchange as of yesterday, 21 December 2017, and
- 20% of the purchase price as seller’s credit to be paid no later than 36 months from closing. Interest of 4.75% per annum is to be paid quarterly in arrears.
The transaction is expected to close on 12 January 2018.
The cash part of the transaction will be fully financed through LINK's corporate fund and bond.
Aabø-Evensen & Co Advokatfirma AS (Norway) and Ernst & Young GmbH (Austria) have acted as legal advisors to LINK Mobility Group ASA in connection with the transaction.
For further information, please contact:
Arild Hustad, CEO
LINK Mobility Group ASA
arild.hustad@linkmobility.com
Mob: +47 95 24 19 30
About LINK Mobility Group ASA
LINK Mobility Group ASA is one of Europe's leading providers within mobile communications, specialized in mobile messaging services, mobile solutions and mobile data intelligence. The Group offers a wide range of scalable services and solutions across industries and sectors due to the growing demand of digital convergence between businesses and customers, platforms and users. The Group is headquartered in Oslo/Norway and is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ISIN: NO0010219702). LINK Mobility continues to experience strong organic growth with a high degree of recurring revenue as customers tend to move more business activities onto the mobile platforms. In 2016, LINK Mobility had a total turnover of 924 million NOK with offices in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Bulgaria, Germany, Spain, Poland, France and Italy.
This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
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