Zi acquires new content and services for Oztime.com subsidiary
CALGARY, June 20 /CNW/ - Zi Corporation (NASDAQ: ZICA) (TSE: ZIC) added
new English-as-a-second-language (ESL) content for its on-line education
subsidiary, Oztime.com through the acquisition of EnglishPractice.com Inc. The
EnglishPractice.com Web site currently offers both online content and services
for ESL training. EnglishPractice.com offers a growing revenue stream from
advertising, sponsorship, pay-per-use, subscription and e-commerce
opportunities and has attracted 570,000 unique users as a result of its more
than 30,000 lessons, quizzes and games. EnglishPractice.com is currently
generating over six million page views per month and its use is growing by
four per cent per week.
"The EnglishPractice.com content is an excellent complement to our
Oztime.com subsidiary," says Michael Lobsinger, chairman and chief executive
officer. "Oztime.com has two exclusive contracts to provide online education
in China -- one with the China Central Radio and Television University and one
with the China e-Commerce Association for the Ministry of Information
Industries. The content and services of EnglishPractice.com complement
Oztime.com's education portal business in addition to providing new revenue
streams."
EnglishPractice.com Inc. owns two proprietary software products: The
Lesson Manager and The Content Generator. The Lesson Manager allows teachers
to enter questions and quizzes through a user-friendly interface and The
Content Generator converts the content entered into Java applications and the
corresponding HTML pages.
Zi acquired EnglishPractice.com for 250,000 common shares and US$226,000
in cash. Under the terms of the contract, 80,000 common shares were issued and
170,000 were deposited in escrow. The release of the escrowed shares is tied
to performance milestones for the business. The founders of
EnglishPractice.com; Jason Hiebert and Derek Kunz will continue to operate and
enhance the EnglishPractice.com Web site. |
