Company Profile

YooMedia plc is one of the fastest growing interactive entertainment companies in the UK.
Since 1997 we have been developing and launching leading B2C consumer brands in the gaming and community sectors. We also work in a B2B capacity with leading brand owners, agencies, content developers and broadcasters to design and develop their interactive content strategies.

Led by Executive Chairman Dr. Michael Sinclair and Group Managing Director Neil MacDonald, YooMedia has assembled a highly experienced management team that possesses a unique blend of skills and experience in the areas of Digital TV, Internet and mobile phone services and technology.

With main office locations in London, Exeter and Maidstone, YooMedia manages core assets including:

Over 30 office locations throughout the UK alone

State-of-the-art studio, production and post-production facilities at our Wapping location.

UK broadcast return path & bandwidth owner

Fully fledged UK Bookmaker License

Database with over 350K UK singles

SMS Engine access with international reach

Fully staffed 50 seat Customer Contact Centre in Maidstone, Kent

YooMedia Dating & Chat - Our dating subsidiary company manages the oldest and largest UK-owned dating brands including Dateline, Club Sirius and Avenues. YooMedia Dating has over 20 office locations throughout the UK and also manages YooChat, our world-leading interactive chat service found on UK digital cable on the Telewest platform (platform extensions planned for 2005).

YooMedia Gambling & Games - Combining the brands of Avago and Channel 425 (in partnership with William Hill) YooMedia is on the leading-edge of interactive fixed odds, casino and poker gambling services for digital TV, the web and 3G mobile phones. Our gaming business also manages YooPlay, the only interactive just for fun games channel found on all four Digital TV platforms in the United Kingdom.

YooMedia Enhanced Solutions (YES) - YES works with brand owners, agencies, content owners and broadcasters to clarify the options, define the strategies and deliver the interactive content that enhances consumer and audience experiences. YES customers include the BBC, Nestle, Celador, William Hill, Channel 4, ZipTV, The Cartoon Network and HR Owen.

These guys are lining their pockets.Very cosy deal. Options at the placing price not at the suspension price as I would have expected. When was the last time Yoo traded at 15p?

I feel existing ahareholders have been ripped off . I was not offered any shares at 15P?

This deal smells. Where is the justification for the suspension? Why didn't they go for a rights issue? Time is not a legitimate excuse.
Why the options at placing price? They are already well in pocket while the rest of us have to live in hope. In the USA there would be a complaint to the SEC and probably a class action.

Totally agree... I got out at 19.15p... and hope to buy back below 17.

Me to. I took the hit but will not be going back. If they screw you once, they will screw you again.

Looks like I'll be keeping my name a while longer then! I'd like to know how the pundits rate the deal. Is it good or bad? 446M shares will be floating around - there are lock in's on a lot of them until 31/3/06 - and the mkt cap will be only 76M.

I am extremely disappointed that I bought at 26p recently - and a lot of small investors following the Shares Mag article bought in up to 31p. I look to be down about 7,000 which is just dandy! Tell me a share that is worth buying?!!!

Absolute wankers!!! Does not seem fair on existing sharenolders who now have to wait and hope that they get most of their money back. A month or so ago looked like they were moving into profit, now all shareholders get is staring at a fuckin loss in a loss-making company whilst others get to feather their nests.
Why not give shareholders the chance to but at 15p and reduce their average sp?

What are you doing chaps, I want to bale but having bought at 30p am totally pissed off right now.

I don't know what to do - but I will be sicker still on Monday if they lose another couple of pence! Can't do much about it right now.

I think the management should justify to us small investors why this is a good deal or they don't get our vote! Bought in at 41p and still holding with hugh loss!!
mukesh

I feel like I have been mugged. Honesty,fairness and transparency.. my foot! The quality of the deal is one thing, the way they have gone about it is another. These guys are paid for what they do and are well rewarded already with stock options. But that is not enough, they have to find another way of gouging themselves. There is only one pie and they are making sure they take more than what is honestly due to them. If the deal is good, why didn't they show faith in setting their latest round of options at the suspension price? If they required working capital, why did they raise that at the pissy price of 15p? Afaid we are the wankers. We deserve to eat cake.

Been in touch with a certain newspaper and asked them to look at the matter. If you feel offended, I suggest you do the same. Most can be contacted online.

Quite a lot of buying going on today as well - why if the price is going to go further south or stay cheap - would anybody be buying now? It may be that the market will like the deal and once the sellers have shed some shares the price will rise - like flowers in springtime! - Or maybe I shouyld take some more drugs and then it won't hurt anymore!!!

Whatever has been done cannot be changed. Like the rest of you I am now making a big loss but at the end of the day Yoomedia is a great long term bet. They may have cocked up over this but the best thing to do imho is buy some more. It aint gonna stay this low for long. I've just bought some more which brings down the price I need to make a profit much lower. Most of us are in this for the long term after all. Buy some more shares and long term we will all be laughing and hopefully forget about this fiasco.

The deal is not done until it has been approved by the shareholders. I am not against the deal per se but I am against the way it was done and the directors pulling a fast one.They should sink or swim on this one like the rest of us. The deal can be approved while stopping some of the less savoury elements of it. Enough said. Up to you fellows.

3.5 million advisors fees and restructuring charges!
Now I am really out of here.

Had a few hours to think things through.

Let's wait for next week. You never know, with an EVO upgrade early next week, 25p might be achieved, then many of us would feel a lot more relaxed.

However, I was happy with the old Yoomedia, simple, well structured, clearly defined divisions. However, if the directors in their wisdom, decide this is the best way forward, then I must either accept thier better judgement or get out. I will hold for the next two years and see if they can indeed make this work.

I DO NOT ACCEPT THE ADDITONAL 16M IN SHARE OPTIONS AT 15P. THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS.

Fair enough, it probably places a floor on the price, if the directors are prepared to add more, in addition to thier existing shares. However, how do we know that the 25m placement at 15p, could not have been done at 20p. Yet the directors thought better of it, simply to line their own pockets at 15p.

Presumably, we can vote through the other motions concerning the aquistion, but block the options. Can I urge any major shareholder, who's vote counts at the EGM, to reject the share option proposal.

Of course, my frustration would decrease, if the SP rises next week, on the back of a brokers note. But that's a BIG if.

Let's all read EVO's words of wisdom next week. Should be very interesting reading.

Was stuck in an M25 jam this afternoon when the RNS was issued - finally stopped for a curry before arriving home for the news. At least the curry was good! I think it will help us to have a dialogue on the following questions?

1. Does the deal make sense to the company? Probably yes. It essentially puts in a couple of years growth which could be very important in the context of the emerging market. It probably makes more sense than the acquisition policy of lastminute.com, for instance, just buying share in a large existing market and never reaching the light of day of real profits. There are significant savings in joint overheads and positive cashflow is predicted by end of next March.

2. Why is the share price as low as 15p? At first sight this is puzzling. YOO have done this before, raising funds at 30p when the price was mid forties. Alizyme (AZM) as an example raised funds at 31p (I think) at the bottom of the market when the price was around that level. They did the same at 169p later last year, again just below the trading price. SEY and AP. (Alltracel) have done the same. I suspect the answer lies in the overall numbers. Could the cap. value support a higher price? I suspect that YOO have had problems getting the funds underwritten given the combined loss making of the two companies. I suspect also that they may have been out-thought by Evolution Securities who are taking the so-called risk if they are not able to place the stock.

3. Is it a good deal for (ordinary) shareholders? In the sense that what is good for the company in the long-term is good for the long-term investor, the answer could well be positive. However, I believe the option of a placing to selected investors, as opposed to a rights issue, is immoral. It is quite possibly cheaper and, no doubt, quicker. Rights issues seem to have gone out of fashion? Perhaps there are readers who can either explain or justify?

4. What can be done about it? The EGM is a stitch-up in the sense that 42.5% of the vote is already there. What about: "if you can't beat them, join them" and get involved in the evolution placing? Can anyone comment on the practicality of this route?

5. Whither the share price? I can't see the logic of paying 19.5p in the market if shares can be bought at 15p. The new shares can't be traded until after the EGM although evolution will, no doubt, be already placing them conditionally. But this is an overhang to the market in any case. The Enlarged Group historical turnover is 61m (presumably gambling revenue at gross) but with historical loss of 12m+ and not moving into profit until sometime next year on a monthly basis, it is difficult to see a cap. of more than 100K or 22p per share. Good acquisition for the long-term holder but little scope in the short-term. So it depends what your objectives are. If you are an aggressive operator, as I am, YOO may no longer be the share for us. They could be a very good holding to tuck away rising over a reasonable period towards the mid-cap area.

A fairly long think through, to help me as well as anyone else. Any thoughts on the legality/morality of eschewing the rights issue path? How about the acquisition of shares via evolution?

Eric

EW ROBSON

EVO have already placed all the 15p shares. I know this. Take it or leave it.

A bullish note by EVO next week and we may be pleasantly surprised.

MONDAY'S open PRICE 17 or 22 ?

I think EWRobson has given a good and accurate summation. Similar in tone to that of Johngtudor who called this earlier in the week.
I see the price in the 17 - 20 range for some time to come. Not for me because I think there are better stocks out there - but there again I've got Yoo wrong once before! Each to his own.
iPublic. As for Evo do you think they can morally and ethically produce a note of any kind given the part they play in the scheme? Surely they should recuse themselves from comment. They are under enough of a cloud as it is.
As for the rights or partially rights issue - there would have been an expense but they didn't get this job done cheaply either in terms of the offer price or the deal expenses. Surely they could have got a better stock price if they had raised part of the money in a rights issue as a 2 phased approach to a (disclosed) friendly acquisition.