Strategic advisor appointed
June 28 2007 - 3:01AM
UK Regulatory
RNS Number:1624Z
XL TechGroup, Inc.
28 June 2007
Press Release 28 June 2007
XL TechGroup, Inc.
("XL TechGroup" or "the Company")
Strategic advisor appointed
to enhance and realise portfolio company valuations
XL TechGroup (AIM: XLT), the systematic architect and builder of an ongoing
stream of high value new companies, is pleased to announce that Presidential
Strategic Advisory Services LLC ("PSAS"), a US based company controlled by David
Epstein and Richard Mondre, has acquired 2 million new XL TechGroup shares,
representing 3.89% of the enlarged issued capital.
XL TechGroup and PSAS have agreed to this acquisition in connection with the
latter's appointment as a strategic advisor to the Company, with a specific
mandate to enhance and accelerate liquidity in XL TechGroup's portfolio
companies and ultimately to convert the significant current and future value in
XL TechGroup's portfolio companies into cash. It is part of XL TechGroup's
continuing strategy to create an ongoing series of significant cash
distributions for its shareholders, and it is anticipated that the first of
these will occur during 2008.
David Epstein and Richard Mondre have considerable experience in managing public
share value and in corporate merger activity, divestitures and trade sales, as
well as corporate strategy. They were respectively CEO and general counsel of
Precision Response Corporation ("PRC"), a US based multinational customer care
solutions provider which has had as many as 13,000 employees. PRC listed on
NASDAQ in July 1996, raising US$67 million, which was followed by a very
successful US$166 million secondary offering only six months later. In 2000,
Messrs. Epstein and Mondre led PRC through a merger with IAC (InterActiveCorp),
formerly USA Networks, a Fortune 500 integrated media company led by Barry
Diller. This merger valued PRC at approximately US$700 million, less than four
years after PRC's IPO.
Messrs. Epstein and Mondre have invested and / or initiated strategies to
enhance or crystallise value for a range of entrepreneurial companies, across a
number of sectors that include media, biotechnology and oil recycling. Messrs.
Epstein and Mondre have also advised on the development strategies of Scout
Media Inc, leading up to its sale in 2005 to Fox Interactive Media, part of News
Corporation, and have advised on successful diversification and restructuring
strategies of the Mustad Group, a privately held 175 year old Norway based group
that has engineering, oil recycling and other business interests in Europe, the
Americas and Asia.
David Epstein and Richard Mondre will add their own abilities in liquidity and
value enhancement and crystallisation to XL TechGroup's proven value creation
skills. Working with the XL TechGroup executive team, and using their strong
familiarity with US markets in particular, they are expected to make a
significant contribution in monetising the targeted minimum valuations of US$400
million for each XL TechGroup portfolio company within four years of their
creation.
Richard Mondre of PSAS said: "XL TechGroup's focus on creating significant value
by selectively addressing large scale unmet market needs is a business model
that we fully endorse. Furthermore, we are very impressed with the management
team's track record. We believe that the latent value within XL TechGroup's
portfolio of companies and its pipeline of opportunities is both significant and
as yet unappreciated, a combination that is very attractive to us as advisors
and investors. We look forward to working with the XL TechGroup team to unlock
this value for the benefit of all shareholders."
PSAS has purchased 2 million new ordinary XL TechGroup shares at 178p per share,
being the average of the Company's closing share price over a 30 day trading
period immediately prior to issuing the new shares. Following this purchase by
PSAS, there are a total of 51,404,993 XL TechGroup shares in issue, with PSAS
owning 3.89% of the enlarged total. The shares now held by PSAS are the subject
of both hard and soft lock-ins over a two year period, and are also pledged to
XL TechGroup as security against a promissory note equivalent to the total
purchase price of the shares issued to PSAS. The note accrues interest semi-
annually at 4.59% per annum which is the current United States Treasury five-
year Applicable Federal Rate, and can be called by XL TechGroup at anytime after
the first year under certain circumstances. The new shares rank pari passu with
the existing ordinary shares in issue and application will be made to the London
Stock Exchange for the new shares to be admitted to trading on AIM.
John Scott, CEO of XL TechGroup, said: "We are delighted that David and Richard
have agreed to be part of XL TechGroup's extended executive team. XL TechGroup
has a strong track record in creating exciting new companies with major, global
market potential and taking them through to a point where they have significant
but still growing valuations. David and Richard have considerable experience in
turning the latent value of a growing, entrepreneurial business into hard cash,
and we are very excited about combining their skills with ours. Their interests
are aligned with ours through the share purchase and, we look forward to a long-
term, mutually beneficial relationship on the road to significant cash
distributions to our shareholders in the future, starting in 2008."
- Ends -
For further information:
XL TechGroup Inc.
John Scott / Harold Gubnitsky Tel: +1 321 409 7403
hgubnitsky@xltg.com
Chris Munden, Director of Investor Relations Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7720
cmunden@xltg.com www.xltechgroup.com
Nomura Code Securities
Richard Potts, Corporate Finance Tel: +44 (0) 20 7776 1200
www.nomuracode.com
XL TechGroup media enquiries:
Abchurch Communications
Heather Salmond / Gareth Mead Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7700
heather.salmond@abchurch-group.com www.abchurch-group.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
About XL TechGroup
XL TechGroup is in the business of significant value creation. Working with
major international corporate and technology partners such as AES, Procter &
Gamble and leading universities, XL TechGroup first identifies global unmet
market needs and then targets and exploits these by the systematic creation of
successful, disruptive technology businesses. These are built from scratch, and
are then funded and developed by XL TechGroup through to the point of a trade
sale or a stock market listing.
XL TechGroup's unique and proven methodology selects the best opportunities in
order to create one-to-two new companies annually, where each company is
expected to achieve a valuation of at least US$400 million within four years
from its creation. While an XL TechGroup company might perform a stock market
listing at an earlier point in this four year timeframe, XL TechGroup would
retain its controlling interest and would continue to assist with the company's
development.
XL TechGroup's companies to date are: AgCert International plc (www.agcert.com),
TyraTech Inc. (www.tyratech.com), DxTech LLC (www.dxtech.com), PetroAlgae LLC
(www.petroalgae.com) and QuoNova LLC (www.quonova.com).
XL TechGroup has also established GenXL LLC as a joint venture to capture the
value of those prospects that do not quite meet the US$400 million, four year
criteria but still demonstrate considerable potential worth. Over and above XL
TechGroup's core business model, GenXL will review a significant flow of
opportunities from both XL TechGroup and GEN3 in order to generate new
companies, standalone product lines and technology licensing opportunities or an
appropriate mix of these.
For further information, see www.xltechgroup.com
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
MSCDDLFLDQBBBBE
XL Tech. (LSE:XLT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
XL Tech. (LSE:XLT)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024
