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Kingfisher PLC - Re Liberty Surf Statement
94% match; RNS ; 13-Jan-2000 12:00:00 am ; 443 words
Announcement by Liberty Surf Groupe SA
Kingfisher draws attention to the attached announcement by Liberty Surf in
France at 1100 (CET) on 13 January 2000.
Liberty Surf is one of Europe's premier internet providers and 45 per cent
owned by Kingfisher.
For further information
Kingfisher plc +44 (0) 20 7724 7749
Website address www.kingfisher.co.uk
Media Enquiries
Gwen Gober, Director of Corporate Affairs +44 (0) 20 7725 5714
Broker and Institutional Enquiries
Keith Williams, Director of Investor Relations
+ 44 (0) 20 7725 5776
France
Graham Fairbank, Head of Corporate Communications
+ 33 1 43 18 52 26
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
13 January 2000
LIBERTY SURF MAKES SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS TOWARD ITS GOAL OF BECOMING EUROPE'S
PREMIER INTERNET PROVIDER
During a press conference held in Paris on 13 January 2000, Liberty Surf
announced significant progress in its subscriber base and market position,
confirming the success and potential of the free Internet concept that it
pioneered in France. It also announced key developments in its external
growth programme.
CONFIRMED SUCCESS OF THE FREE INTERNET ACCESS CONCEPT : DRAMATIC INCREASE IN
SUBSCRIPTIONS
In the eight months since the launch of its service (27 April 1999), Liberty
Surf has climbed to a leading position among Internet access providers in
France, with nearly 610,000 subscribers, 813,209 e-mail addresses created and
120 million minutes of telephone communications logged. It is now the largest
challenger to France Telecom and has confirmed its substantial lead as the
country's top-ranking provider of free Internet access. This result is
principally attributable to three factors. First, Liberty Surf's strategic
choice of providing free Internet access, which it pioneered in France and
which is becoming the European norm. Second, its policy of pursuing
diversified partnerships offering Internet users rich content and effective
service. Finally, a powerful marketing strategy based in particular on
alliances with several large retailers, including Liberty Surf's founding
shareholders.
PURSUIT OF EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY : EXTERNAL GROWTH
Building on its successful growth in France, Liberty Surf has also been
pursuing its strategy of becoming an international full-service player in the
Internet and telecom industries. Following its acquisitions of the Nomade
search engine, the RESpublica chat line provider and AXS Telecom, Liberty Surf
has today announced the purchase of a stake in X-Stream (see note). X-Stream
is a pioneer in free Internet access in the UK and currently ranks third among
the UK's Internet service providers with 500,000 subscribers. Since October
1999, X-Stream has also been operating in Sweden, Norway and Denmark and
already has 70,000 subscribers across Scandinavia.
FUNDING INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT : EVALUATING A POSSIBLE IPO
In line with its commitment to become a leader in the European Internet
market, Liberty Surf plans to continue the acquisition programme it began in
1999. Like many of its competitors, Liberty Surf is considering tapping the
capital markets in order to accelerate its international growth. To evaluate
this option, Liberty Surf has asked Deutsche Bank to study the terms and
conditions entailed in listing its shares on a French regulated market. At
present, Europ@web and Kingfisher each hold approximately 45% of Liberty
Surf's shares.
Note: Initial investment of $5 million US for 10% of the share capital of X-
Stream |
