TOMORROW FOCUS AG has agreed to sell jameda GmbH, which operates a physician ratings portal by the same name, to Burda Digital GmbH. The deal will largely complete TOMORROW FOCUS AG's strategy of concentrating on digital transaction-based business models in the travel sector.
The provisional cash purchase price is EUR 46.8 million. Burda Digital made the highest offer in a bidding procedure coordinated by Altium Capital involving around 40 companies. This amount is equal to 22 times the anticipated EBITDA figure for 2015. According to initial estimates based on carrying values as at 31 December 2015, the resulting book profit of the TOMORROW FOCUS Group under IFRS rules will be EUR 38.1 million. In the single-entity financial statements of the parent company TOMORROW FOCUS AG, drawn up under the accounting rules of the German Commercial Code (Handelsgesetzbuch, HGB), the book profit will be EUR 38.8 million. The deal is expected to close at the end of the year.
jameda is Germany's biggest physician ratings portal. Over five million patients use the portal every month to find the right physician. The site also features a booking system that allows patients to make their appointments straight away online. jameda GmbH was formed in 2007. TOMORROW FOCUS AG acquired a majority shareholding in 2008 during the start-up phase and completed its takeover in 2011. In the financial year 2015, with around 40 employees, the Munich-based company will presumably generate revenue of EUR 6 million and EBITDA of EUR 2 million.
Following the sale of TOMORROW FOCUS AG's publishing assets (Focus Online and The Huffington Post) in April and of its premium online dating agency (ElitePartner) in June, the sale of jameda largely completes its strategic realignment towards digital transaction-based business models in the travel sector. Altogether, these disposals will generate a cash inflow of around EUR 85 million. TOMORROW FOCUS AG plans to use some of this cash to drive further growth in its Travel segment, centred on HolidayCheck and Zoover.
Christoph Schuh, Member of the Management Board at TOMORROW FOCUS AG, paid tribute to the team at jameda GmbH: 'We are very proud of all the interest shown in jameda and the price offered for the company in the bidding process. In the eight years since it was formed, jameda has grown from a tiny start-up to become Germany's leading eHealth portal. In recognition of that achievement, we would like to express our gratitude to the company's founders, its management team and, above all, its employees. I am confident that Burda Digital is the right choice of buyer and that it will be able to keep jameda GmbH on a trajectory of growth.'
About TOMORROW FOCUS AG
TOMORROW FOCUS AG (ISIN DE005495329) is based in Munich, Germany, and is one of the country's leading digital travel companies. With a total workforce of around 400, the TOMORROW FOCUS Group comprises HOLIDAYCHECK AG, which operates hotel review and travel booking portals by the same name; the car rental portal MIETWAGENCHECK; and WEBASSETS B.V., which operates the ZOOVER hotel review portals and the METEOVISTA/WEERONLINE weather portals.
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