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Multi-million dollar deal sees European Acotel Group and info2cell combining technology, resources to take on Mideast, European and American market opportunities. Dubai, 30 October 2000 In the first deal ever seen of its kind in the Middle East, the region’s pioneering and market leading mobile information services provider, info2cell, has announced that European Wireless-Value Added Services pioneer Acotel Group is to invest in a 33% stake in the company. The move is at the core of a key alliance that brings major investment and technology advantages to the Middle East mobile information market whilst also taking info2cell’s content and development capabilities into new world markets, including Europe and the Americas. “info2cell impressed us as a company. We came to the region and met with the management team and development teams in both Jordan and the UAE, reviewed the company’s business plans and talked to its marketing partners and we concluded that this was a company we wanted to do business with,” said Claudio Carnivale, CEO of Acotel. "We have huge synergies together, in technology development, market vision and in service delivery." Through the deal, info2cell will strengthen its product offerings to users of Middle East mobile information services with the addition of the powerful Acotel Wireless Value Added Services portfolio to its current rich range of information services. Advanced WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) and SMS (Short Message Service) technology offerings from Acotel include customer services as well as bringing new operator service potential to GSM players in the Middle East market. At the same time, info2cell’s development team and extensive mobile information database and software experience will add to Acotel’s existing service and technology portfolio. “This marks the first time that a Middle East technology company has partnered with a European leader in any field to drive product and service offerings into other world markets," said Bashar Dahabra. "This alliance means richer, stronger and more dynamic services for Middle East users, as well as huge new opportunities to create new services that drive innovation in other world markets." The alliance combines info2cell’s Middle East market strengths with Acotel’s relationships with key European operators, including Telecom Italia Mobile. Acotel also has operator alliances in Latin America. Launched onto the Italian stock market on the 9th August 2000, Acotel shares traded at an initial 54 Euros: the company’s current valuation is 130 Euros, or a market capitalization of over 500 million Euros. The agreement between the two companies includes an option to expand Acotel’s investment and participation to a total ownership stake of 66% in info2cell. “We’re combining technology strengths and vision with
financial capability and new market development,” said Dahabra.
“This deal demonstrates the potential, capability and relevance
of Middle Eastern information age businesses to attain global potential.” - Ends- About the Acotel Group SpA The Acotel Group is a leading European wireless application service provider (W-ASP) that has developed cutting edge technology that empowers individuals in the mobile information age, by enabling them to define what information they receive, when and where. Our mission is to grow the services for a genuinely mobile information society. In the new multimedia chain, ACOTEL is strongly positioned as a content aggregator, packager and service provider in the mobile environment. ACOTEL partners network operators and enterprises to enable them to offer their customers personalized, location-based wireless information services, as well as mobile commerce solutions. As of the end of the second quarter of 2000, Acotel had enabled more than 1.3 million paying subscribers to develop personalized wireless value-added services. Acotel's services are available to more than 28 million potential subscribers through relationships with leading wireless network operators and major banks and airlines in Europe and Latin America. The Acotel Group is quoted on the Italian Nuovo Mercato and is one of the few wireless Internet players that enjoys positive net earnings. About info2cell Info2cell is the pioneer in wireless information services for the Middle East, North Africa and the Indian Subcontinent. The company is the first WAP wireless information provider in the Middle East, having demonstrated its Info2cell WAP portal in live action since January 2000. info2cell is the operator of the leading wireless messaging portal in the region, combining mobile services, e-commerce and strong editorial and transactional content in a single service accessible to GSM mobile users wherever they are. Info2cell's regional focused content delivers information for people in the region or interested in the region, anytime, anywhere on virtually any device. Info2cell is the preferred WAP content provider for Siemens mobile phones in the Middle East and is in an alliance with Siemens to educate the regional market on WAP technology and its applications.
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European Mobile Service Provider Buys Into info2cell