SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. – AUGUST 8, 2008 – blinkx plc (“blinkx”) (LSE AIM: BLNX) confirms that it has delivered a letter to the Board of Directors and CEO of MIVA, Inc. (“MIVA”) (NASDAQ: MIVA) in which blinkx proposes to acquire MIVA for a cash consideration of $1.20 per share.
MIVA is a Nasdaq-listed digital media company. It describes itself as having two focuses to its business: owning and operating a growing portfolio of consumer destination sites and interest-specific toolbars, through its MIVA Direct division; and running a third-party contextual Pay-Per-Click ad network focused on key vertical sectors, through its MIVA Media division. MIVA, Inc. operates across North America and Europe.
blinkx believes the proposal is highly attractive for MIVA shareholders. blinkx’s proposal represents a 54% premium above the closing price of MIVA common stock of $0.78 on August 7, 2008, and a 36% premium over the average closing price for the one month prior to August 7, 2008.
Commenting on the proposal, blinkx CEO and Founder Suranga Chandratillake said: “Our recent strong momentum in the business, and our positioning in the area of performance-based advertising which has shown itself to be robust in the current climate, has encouraged us to consider opportunities to accelerate our growth. We’re excited about the opportunities presented by a combination with MIVA. blinkx has been developing advanced monetization technologies, which we are now ready to introduce aggressively into the market. This transaction would enable us to accelerate the penetration of these more advanced technologies into the marketplace over the current planned organic approach. We hope that the Board of MIVA will appreciate the uniqueness of this opportunity.”
blinkx believes that a combination of the two companies would be mutually beneficial to both companies’ shareholders, employees, and customers. blinkx and MIVA have complementary businesses that could benefit greatly from blinkx’s technology and MIVA’s distribution network.
blinkx has worked with MIVA as a customer and partner for a number of years and has a great deal of respect for MIVA’s success in building a global keyword advertising network and growing the MIVA Direct consumer offering. blinkx believes, however, that with the Internet’s continued progression towards rich media and newer forms of advertising, more advanced technology will play a fundamental role in achieving success.
blinkx already has in place a proven and growing video-driven revenue engine, and enjoys an unrivaled technology portfolio which is applicable across many aspects of the online market. A combination of the two companies – fusing MIVA’s advertising network with blinkx’s ability to leverage its technology portfolio into the online market – presents an exciting and compelling opportunity.
Specifically, blinkx’s advanced and scalable matching technology will enable immediate platform improvements for MIVA. As a result, large portions of relevant search traffic from MIVA’s search ad network will be monetizeable at higher rates through blinkx’s technology. Furthermore, blinkx’s technology holds the potential to build on MIVA’s existing toolbar network, adding the latest functionality and an entirely new revenue stream. Finally, MIVA’s consumer sites and portals, that already attract large audiences, will immediately benefit from blinkx’s advanced video technology and AdHoc advertising platform.
Any acquisition of MIVA would be subject to the making of a formal offer following the opportunity to conduct a limited confirmatory due diligence investigation, the negotiation of a definitive merger agreement containing customary terms and conditions, including customary conditions to closing; no material adverse change to MIVA’s business; appropriate shareholder approvals; and any regulatory requirements. Given blinkx’s participation in the industry and MIVA’s public status, blinkx envisages an efficient due diligence process appropriate to a public company. blinkx is prepared to deliver a draft merger agreement to MIVA and begin discussions immediately. Should an offer proceed it could be classified as a reverse takeover by Aim Regulation necessitating the publication of an admission document.
The transaction would be funded from existing cash resources of the two companies.
About blinkx
blinkx plc (LSE AIM: BLNX) is the world’s largest and most advanced video search engine. Today, blinkx has indexed more than 26 million hours of audio, video, viral and TV content, and made it fully searchable and available on demand. blinkx’s founders set out to solve a significant challenge – as TV and user-generated content on the Web explode, keyword-based search technologies only scratch the surface. blinkx’s patented search technologies listen to – and even see – the Web, helping users enjoy a breadth and accuracy of search results not available elsewhere. In addition, blinkx powers the video search for many of the world’s most frequented sites. blinkx is based in San Francisco and London. More information is available at www.blinkx.com.
