Intertainment Media Provides Ortsbo Transaction Update
Company Intends Application for Listing on Senior Canadian and US Exchanges
TORONTO, CANADA--(Marketwire - Nov. 28, 2011) - Intertainment Media Inc. ("Intertainment" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:INT)(OTCQX:ITMTF)(FRANKFURT:I4T) is pleased to provide a further update on the status of its subsidiary, Ortsbo Inc. ("Ortsbo"). Based on the continued growth of Ortsbo and the analysis with key strategic advisors to increase value to the Company and its shareholders, Intertainment intends to initiate the process to "spin out" Ortsbo and consider independent applications for listing on senior Exchanges in Canada and the United States.
This transaction will be subject to all applicable board, shareholder and regulatory approvals.
As part of the process, the intention is for Intertainment to retain significant interest in the new enterprise, allowing it to gain from any increase in valuation of Ortsbo as an independent company and to use those gains to continue to develop and support exciting new technology and new media assets with the goal of creating additional independent enterprises. This strategy is consistent with Intertainment's mandate to create, nurture and invest in high growth enterprises.
To date, Ortsbo has garnered significant interest by US Banks, Venture and investment firms and has already received interest for a lead order of $20 Million from a US Institution at an anticipated pre-money valuation for Ortsbo Inc. of a minimum $210 Million USD, with further potential interest for additional financing. This provides Ortsbo, as an independent division of Intertainment with a significantly higher independent value than the total current enterprise of the Company as a whole. With the guidance and foresight of Intertainment's strategic investment and incubation program, Ortsbo has quickly grown to over 40 Million Monthly Unique Users and has generated in excess of 1.3 Billion minutes of User Engagement, surpassing growth of Facebook, Gmail, Foursquare and other major social media platforms in its first year. To capitalize on the increasing enterprise valuations in the social media sector, Intertainment feels that the best methodology for continued increased value is to allow Ortsbo to grow as an independent firm.
Ortsbo is currently reviewing its strategic operations plan, together with its advisors, as it plans to establish a world-class executive team, senior social media, linguistic, marketing and technology staff to continue the accelerated growth and generate sustainable revenue programs. It is proposed that Ortsbo's head office will be located in Southern California to take advantage of the rich resources in the social media, venture, and entertainment industries in those regions, with significant development and operations residing in the Toronto and New York City regions. Upon discussions with Intertainment's Board of Directors, advisors and counsel, an initial strategic plan has been established, which includes arms length 3rd party financing, and a separate Board of Directors allowing it to work towards the independent listing requirements.
Management has presented, as part of the initial strategic plan, a proposal to issue subject to tax and regulatory review, in conjunction with the completion of the proposed spin out, the Company would affect a dividend whereby shareholders of Intertainment, as of an effective record date, to be set in early January 2012, will, in total, receive up to 20% of the pre-money value of Ortsbo by way of common stock received by Intertainment in the new Ortsbo publicly listed entity. Under the terms of the proposal, the dividend will be distributed to record date shareholders as Ortsbo common stock. "Management and the Board of Intertainment, along with our strategic advisors feel that the value and the Ortsbo brand, along with future opportunities would be accelerated as an independent company," said David Lucatch, President of Ortsbo / CEO of Intertainment Media Inc. "To unlock the value and potentially gain from the future of Ortsbo, we feel that potential senior Exchange listings are the ideal opportunity to foster this objective, giving our current and future shareholders a stake in the growth of Ortsbo while validating the Intertainment incubation model."
The Company will provide further details as they become available.