Tiscali 1999 Annual Report Download - page 10

By the first six months of 2001 CD-Telekomunikace should cover the first 2,300 km with its cabling
network; it is expected to reach 4,000 km by the second half of the same year.
Link line S.A. On 9 February 2000, Tiscali S.p.A. stipulated a contract for the purchase of 100 percent of
shares of this Brussels-based company which is one of the main Internet Services Providers in Belgium.
The agreement establishes that the amount will be settled by means of the issue of new Tiscali shares, to be
approved by the extraordinary meeting called for 15 March 2000.
Link Line S.A. already has 60,000 subscribers to whom it offers free access and various services ranging
from web mail to community services.
Nikoma Beteiligungs GmbH. On 25 February 2000, Tiscali S.p.A. signed an agreement with Nikoma
shareholders for the purchase by Tiscali of the shares of this company, which is an ISP and telephone
operator and is based in Hamburg.
The operation, for a value of roughly EURO 270 million, will be effected by means of the issue of Tiscali
shares during the extraordinary meeting called for 17 April.
Nikoma offers telephone and free Internet access services to over 180,000 subscribers, in the consumer and
business categories. As an ISP, in addition to dial-up access, web-hosting and unified messaging, it also
provides added value multimedia services.
In the framework of its expansion plans, Tiscali will link Nikoma with the other European countries by
means of its proprietary fiberoptic loop (Northern loop), which is being developed by the French company
Nets S.A..
In addition to the above listed company acquisitions, which are to be considered as part of Tiscali’s
European expansion strategy, the following main events took place after the closure of the 1999 Financial
Year:
Gilla SpA. In January 2000, an equal based joint-venture was set up between Tiscali S.p.A. and Sonera
Corporation, a leading Finnish telecommunications company. The new company, with a registered share
capital of EURO 2.5 million, has as its corporate aim the offer to the consumer market of Directory
telephone services by means of a large Call Center based in Cagliari. According to the business plan, the
company will be fully operating starting from the third quarter of 2000.
Ideare S.r.l. On 3 February 2000, Tiscali purchased 60% of this company, which is the owner of the
SearchTone technology, a search engine with advanced solutions for Internet searching.
This operation, for a total value of EURO 6,71 million, will be financed by means of the issue of new
Tiscali shares reserved to company shareholders for a value of EURO 4,13 million to be approved by the
extraordinary meeting called for 15 March 2000 and by the increase of Ideare capital of EURO 2,6 million.
VOLTrade On 11 February 2000, Tiscali S.p.A. acquired 100% of the financial information site VOLTrade,
which offers in real time exchange quotations MID30, MIDEX and “Nuovo Mercato”, in parallel with the
progression of all stock exchange indexes.
Tiscali carried out this operation in the framework of its project for the development of specialized content
and services and of e-commerce of financial products.
Freetravel S.p.A. On 14 March 2000, an equal based joint-venture was set up with UVET S.p.A., with a
registered share capital of EURO 500,000. The corporate aim of the new company is on-line sale of travel
tickets and tourist packages.