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Shares Outstanding (5.71M) Float (1.10M) 52-Week Low $0.75 Recent Price $1.43 52-Week High $8.00 First South Africa Corp. to Acquire 81% Stake in Leisure Planet, Leading Internet-based Global Travel Agency Investment Is Company's First Outside of South Africa and First in an Internet-Related Business MIAMI/JOHANNESBURG, South Africa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 24, 1999-- Leisure Planet Enters Into Long-Term Agreements to Serve as Major Travel Partner for Yahoo! and Lycos Bertelsmann First South Africa Corp., Ltd. (Nasdaq: FSACF - news) today announced that it has acquired 81% of Leisure Planet (www.leisureplanet.com), of London and Cape Town, a leading Internet-based global travel agency, from Twine Media Ltd., a subsidiary of Rembrandt Group, Ltd., a major South Africa-based conglomerate. First South Africa acquired its stake through an injection of capital into Leisure Planet. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. In a related development, First South Africa also announced today that Leisure Planet has entered into agreements with the French and German subsidiaries of Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO - news) and Lycos Bertelsmann GmbH & Co. KG, a joint venture between Lycos, Inc. (Nasdaq: LCOS - news) and Bertelsmann. Leisure Planet will be the exclusive hotel and air travel services provider to Yahoo! in Germany and France. The Lycos Bertelsmann portal agreement extends for three years and makes Leisure Planet the exclusive travel partner for the Lycos Bertelsmann travel web guide in 14 major European markets. The launch in these markets is expected to begin within the next 90 days. It is expected that these business relationships will create important revenue streams for Leisure Planet, which in turn could be a major growth catalyst for First South Africa. Founded in 1995, Leisure Planet is a full-service online travel agency with the world's largest image-rich hotel database; flight, car and hotel reservation facilities; and comprehensive proprietary travel guides for more than 175 travel destinations. Leisure Planet is one of the few web-based travel service that specializes in travel to and from destinations outside of the United States. Leisure Planet has over 35,000 hotels on its service. An outstanding feature of Leisure Planet's web site is that visitors can view a comprehensive selection of photos of more than 12,200 hotels, enabling visitors to ''look before they book.'' The Leisure Planet web site also has comprehensive information on more than 8,000 independent hotels not listed on any other web site. Clive Kabatznik, Chief Executive Officer of First South Africa, said: ''This investment in Leisure Planet represents a major new strategic direction for our company. This is the first time that we have invested in a company doing business outside of South Africa and our first investment in any Internet-related business - much less one with as much upside potential as Leisure Planet. As such, this investment positions us to greatly enhance our growth prospects and, in turn, to build value for our shareholders.'' Mr. Kabatznik continued: ''Leisure Planet utilizes a business model similar to that of its competitors: Expedia, Travelocity and Preview Travel. Leisure Planet, however, is the first and currently the only pan-European web-based travel resource. As such, Leisure Planet customers will benefit from its business relationships with content and fulfillment partners throughout Europe, from the several languages featured on the Leisure Planet web site, and from Leisure Planet's international customer service function. Most importantly, Leisure Planet's new partnerships with Yahoo! and Lycos Bertelsmann will help it build a market position that we regard as an outstanding business opportunity. ''The growth rate of Internet usage in Europe currently outpaces that of the United States and we believe that Leisure Planet's position as the travel partner with Yahoo! and Lycos in major European markets establishes it as a leading player in this exciting area,'' Mr. Kabatznik concluded. Leisure Planet is a global Internet travel agency. For consumers, Leisure Planet operates a full-service leisure travel site - www.leisureplanet.com which provides on-line flight, car and hotel booking facilities, and excellent travel guides for over 170 countries or regions. By providing integration of its virtual travel agency service, Leisure Planet also licenses its content and technology to selected Internet sites. To date, Leisure Planet's expanding group of high-profile distribution sites includes infospace.com (USA), itravel.com.au (Australia), virtualoutlet.com (USA), thetrip.com (USA), resfeber.com (Sweden), rejsefeber.dk (Denmark), reisefeber.com (Norway), lycosuk.co.uk (UK), planetoasis.com (USA), mweb.co.za (South Africa) and lycos.de (Germany). This pool of Internet distribution positions Leisure Planet as the premier global Internet distribution partner for hotels. Rembrandt Group, Ltd., which will continue to hold approximately 19 percent of Leisure Planet, is a multinational company with a market value of more than US$4 billion. First South Africa Corp., Ltd. is a publicly traded investment company that acquires, owns and operates middle-market companies primarily based in South Africa. The company's holdings include businesses in various industries, including value-added convenience foods and leisure products. The company may seek shareholder approval at its upcoming annual meeting to change its name to reflect the change in its investment focus. The company's South African investments will be focused on its stake in Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed First Lifestyle Holdings, the value of which will be readily available through the market price of its shares. The statements which are not historical facts contained in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve certain risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to risks associated with the uncertainty of future financial results, additional financing requirements, development of new products, regulatory approval processes, the impact of competitive products or pricing, technological changes, the effect of economic conditions and other uncertainties detailed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Contact: First South Africa, Miami Rebecca Freeman (305) 857-5009 or Kekst and Company, New York Roy Winnick or Mark Semer 212-521-4842 or 4802 MoneyMade I N S I D E R T I P S MoneyMade@Netscape.Net | ||||||||||||||
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