Zamano acquires Irish text firm for €8.5m


23 Apr 2007

Dublin- and AIM-listed mobile software firm Zamano has acquired another Irish firm active in the mobile entertainment business for €8.5m.

Zamano’s acquisition of Dublin-based Eirborne Text Promotions will begin with an initial cash payment of €1.2m and the issuance of 1.13 million shares at 29.9p/44c a share.

Established by telecoms veterans Gerard O’Keefe and Paul Coyle, Eirborne provides a range of mobile entertainment services including music, video, comedy and game content to a subscriber base of over 100,000 people in Ireland, the UK and Australia.

Eirborne’s audited accounts recorded a turnover of €2.87m for 2006, out of which a one-off payment of €500,000 was labelled as “director payments”.

“The acquisition of Eirborne is Zamano’s first deal, post listing on AIM and IEX, and will provide Zamano with an enhanced web presence and brand propositions which are aligned to our target users in our core geographic markets,” said Zamano chief executive and founder John O’Shea.

“The acquisition also marks an important milestone in our strategic development and we will continue to focus on driving growth and investor value through further strategic acquisitions, investment in new technologies and expansion into new territories,” O’Shea added.

By John Kennedy