Article
365 buys sports infotainment site
Statistics provider netted at £31m
E-finance: special report
Three friends who met while playing sports as students at Bristol university have sold the rugby focused website business they set up shortly after graduating to 365 Corporation for £31m.
Nick Roberts, Alex Vile and Chris Pilling - all in their early 30s - have accepted £28m in new 365 shares and the remainder in cash for Datanet, which was established in 1995 to offer digitally delivered sports and entertainment content.
Between them and former RugbyNews editor Richard Pembroke they own around 75% of the company.
Dan Thompson, the chief executive of 365, said Datanet's more statistically based products, which include Planet Rugby, Planet F1, Planet Trivia and Cricketline, would complement 365's news coverage and editorial style. "Our expanded content offerings and the size of our combined audience provide a strong platform as we continue to develop revenue streams such as advertising sales and sponsorship, e-commerce, wireless applications and betting," he said.
Contributors to Datanet's sites include the South African cricketer, Allan Donald, and the former points world record holder of rugby, Michael Lynagh.
Mr Roberts and Mr Pembroke will remain with the company to help integrate and develop its products into the enlarged group.
In December 1999 Datanet sites attracted 300,000 unique users, according to the company. Unaudited accounts show net liabilities of £340,851 at January 31 and a loss of £638,890 in respect of the 10 months ending January 31.
Mr Thompson said that 365, which is sitting on a cash pile of around £50m following its December float, would continue to expand aggressively through both organic growth and acquisition.
The company is in the process of developing software and technology capable of delivering its content across multiple platforms.
Shares in 365 performed brightly after listing in December and hit a high of 272p, but have since struggled to live up to their pre-float hype. Last night the shares closed down 4p at 228p, following a 16% rise the previous day.