Bartercard buys Entertainment Book

22 August 2016

Exciting Acquisition of Entertainment Publications

In a deal worth $22.5m cash, $2.5m in shares and $5m raised for costs and working capital, BPS Technology Limited, who owns Bartercard - the world’s leading global trade exchange - is to acquire Entertainment Publications Australia and New Zealand, a popular and prominent business-to-consumer (B2C) deals platform which produces the Entertainment Book and the Entertainment Digital Membership. It has 550,000 members and a relationship with 12,000 SMEs and 18,000 NFPs.

The collaboration will provide many exciting opportunities for both partners. The vendor of Entertainment Publications, Mr Ben Johnson, who will remain as Chairman of Entertainment after completion, said, “Entertainment Publications and BPS share the same culture and values, making this a natural win for both companies. They share the same vision for providing marketing solutions to businesses, value to customers, and support to community organisations and the charitable sector. It is a win-win for everyone.”

As part of the acquisition process, BPS undertook a detailed financial and legal due diligence on Entertainment. Further detail on the acquisition is set out in the presentation announced to ASX.

Mr Trevor Dietz, CEO of BPS Technology said: “I am delighted to welcome Entertainment into the BPS group. Entertainment is an excellent business led by an ambitious team who share our core values. We expect the joining of our longstanding, valuable business networks to deliver an increasingly compelling value proposition to merchants, consumers and not-for-profits. This acquisition brings several attractive near-term growth opportunities within reach, the benefits of which will flow to new and existing BPS partners, merchants and shareholders.”

It is anticipated the settlement of the acquisition will be completed mid-September 2016.

Highlights:

• BPS to acquire Entertainment Publications Australia and New Zealand, a leading business-to-consumer (B2C) deals platform which produces the Entertainment Book and the Entertainment Digital Membership

• Acquisition set to boost BPS’ growth profile with FY17E pro forma revenue growth of 118% and FY17E pro forma EBITDA growth of 49%. Significant future growth potential with the combined BPS group benefiting from a network of 36,000 SMEs, 18,000 NFPs and 550,000 paying customers (“Members”)

• BPS successfully completes institutional placement, raising $27.5 million to fund the Entertainment acquisition and to provide growth / working capital

• Institutional placement was significantly oversubscribed with strong demand received from institutional and sophisticated investors

• All eligible BPS shareholders invited to participate in a non-underwritten Share Purchase Plan at the same price as the placement ($0.94 per share)

About BPS Technology Limited (ASX: BPS): BPS Technology Limited is a leading provider of technology platforms and management systems in the Digital Payments space for Small to Medium Businesses (SMBs) in eight countries. Its technology platforms and systems help to drive customers to its SMB merchants. More than 24,000 SMBs transact in excess of 1.8m transactions worth $600m+ per annum using its various technology platforms. BPS earns fees on all transactions over the platforms via its subsidiaries Bartercard, TESS and bucqi.

About Entertainment: Entertainment Publications is a business-to-consumer (B2C) deals platform with an established model proven over 21 years of profitable operations. Entertainment provides restaurant and activity guides with special offers from more than 12,000 SMEs to consumers across Australia and New Zealand.

About Bartercard: Bartercard operates the world’s largest trade exchange. It allows small to medium businesses to conduct business transactions without the use of cash. There are 50,000+ card holders in 8 countries currently. Bartercard transactions can be conducted online, via its mobile app, across more than 7,000 bank EFTPOS terminals and on bucqi terminals.

About bucqi: bucqi is a disruptive technology based around a loyalty platform designed for SMBs combined with a robust and innovative mobile payment app for both merchants and consumers. The payments platform has been two years in the making and has a number of patents pending. It allows consumers to easily pay for goods and services without taking out their wallet or swiping their credit card and they earn and redeem reward points via a wide range of participating suppliers. It has been launched in three regional cities in Queensland Australia and Wellington in New Zealand.

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