DMGT makes £48m offer for online estate agent

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Thursday 8 December 2005

Daily Mail and General Trust hopes to expand its presence in the online property sector, after making a recommended offer for Fastcrop plc, an internet company.

Its main asset is Primelocation.com, a leading website for quality estate agents wishing to advertise their residential properties on the web, as well as for listings of properties located abroad. It attracts more than 850,000 visitors per month.

DMGT's cash offer of 72.78p per share values the entire issued and to-be-issued share capital of Fastcrop at £48 million, and it is expected to formally complete at an extraordinary general meeting of Fastcrop on 11 January 2006.

DMGT has already received irrevocables from more than 75% of Fastcrop shareholders to accept the offer, which has been recommended by the internet company’s board.

The Managing Director of DMGT's Associated New Ventures division, Andrew Hart, said that Primelocation.com represents a prize asset for the Group.

“The acquisition continues our strategy of making investments to increase our exposure to key areas of the online advertising market,” he said.

Enquiries to:
Andrew Hart, Managing Director, Associated New Ventures: 020 7927 8675
Peter Williams, Finance Director, DMGT: 020 7938 6631