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Acceleration of European Development With the Acquisition of dooyoo
PARIS, June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- LeGuide.com S.A. (Alternext - ALGUI), the number 1 publisher of online shopping guides in France and the 5th in Europe* announces today the acquisition of German social shopping guide dooyoo. Very significant development of European coverage: close to 9 million unique visitors* in key countries. dooyoo has reached more than 3.8 million unique visitors* in Europe as of the end of March 2008. With this acquisition, LeGuide.com S.A. moves up from 5th to 4th online shopping guide in Europe*, with the number 1 position in France**, the number 2 position in Spain*, number 6 position in Germany* and number 11 position in the UK*. The new group has reached over 8.8 million unique visitors* in Europe as of the end of March 2008. The group hopes to yield over 25% of its turnover pro forma in 2008 outside France. "LeGuide.com progresses strongly with its European deployment, which has always been a fundamental aspect of our strategy. We are happy to take this next step with dooyoo which complements us perfectly both in geographical terms as well as their expertise," comments Corinne Lejbowicz, chairman (and CEO) of LeGuide.com S.A. Enhanced services to Internet users LeGuide.com S.A. and dooyoo combine their strengths from a functional and a technological point of view. Always keen on guiding Internet users in their online shopping, LeGuide.com S.A. will gain from one of Europe's strongest know-how in the user generated content and consumer opinions domain. dooyoo, for its part, will benefit from the technological platform and search engines which were developed in-house at LeGuide.com S.A. "The acquisition reinforces the strengths of both companies and the alignment will be quickly operational. We share the same work vision, the same economic model and we are going to benefit very quickly from the proficiency and the technological tools of the group, technologies which are contracted out at the present time," explains Lutz Röllig, CEO of dooyoo. Terms of the acquisition This acquisition of 100% of dooyoo's shares is entirely realised in cash. Its financing will be secured by a combination of approximately 60% of debt and 40% of cash. Already showing strong natural growth, LeGuide.com S.A. is accelerating its development with the objective to become number 3 in Europe within two years. The group, which maintains a strong financial means thanks to a low level of indebtedness and a high level of liquid assets, might proceed with further acquisitions within the coming months. * Source : Nielsen/Netratings March 2008, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom ** Source : Nielsen/Netratings May 2008 About LeGuide.com S.A. http://www.leguide.com/finance As one of the leading online shopping guides, LeGuide.com S.A.'s role is both to help online shoppers search for, compare, and purchase products online and to increase e-merchants' visibility, audience, and sales. Strongly successful in France with the sites http://www.leguide.com, http://www.leguide.net and http://www.webmarchand.com, the company is developing internationally along the same lines. The LeGuide.com S.A. network is present in 14 countries and has sites in 9 languages: France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxemburg, Spain, United Kingdom, Ireland, Poland, Italy, Netherlands and, since December 2007, Sweden and Denmark. By the end of 2007, the company was composed of an international team of 69 people. OSEO Anvar has labelled LeGuide.com an "Innovative Company". LeGuide.com S.A. is listed on the NYSE-Euronext Paris Alternext (under mnemonic code ALGUI, ISIN code FR0010146092). About dooyoo http://www.dooyoo.com Founded in 1999, dooyoo is a company organized under German law, based in Berlin, and held essentially by investment funds that have been financing its development. As a social commerce business, dooyoo's formula of advisor services, social bargain hunting services and professional reviews offers maximum shopping comfort. The combination of reviews written by dooyoo members, price comparisons and professional test reports, positions dooyoo to connect consumers, dealers and products. dooyoo has a workforce of 24 people and a total turnover of EUR 3.6 million for 2007, with an operating result of EUR 0.8 million. As an online social shopping guide, dooyoo has become a major player in Germany and has achieved a significant position in the United Kingdom. dooyoo is active in Germany (http://www.dooyoo.de), the United Kingdom (http://www.dooyoo.co.uk), Spain (http://www.dooyoo.es) and Italy (http://www.dooyoo.it). dooyoo AG and its shareholders were advised by Jupiter Capital Partners on this transaction, LeGuide.com was advised by Lorentz, Deschamps & Associés LeGuide.com S.A. Astrid Canevet Tel : +33-1-55-43-36-10 finance@leguide.com Actifin Ségolène de Saint Martin Tel : +33-1-56-88-11-14 ssaintmartin@actifin.fr dooyoo AG Deborah Abesser Tel : +49-30-293-95-121 deborah.abesser@dooyoo.de
