Interactive group YooMedia has agreed to acquire MMTV, which holds the contract to provide NHS Direct health information on digital television in the UK.
The NHS Direct contract was awarded to MMTV earlier in the year, but the service has yet to launch on any of the digital platforms.
YooMedia plc will aquire the issued share capital of MMTV Limited from parent company Multimedia Television plc in exchange for shares and £300,000 in cash payable over the next two years. The deal includes an earn-out provision of further deferred payments of between £2.2 million and £4.2 million in shares or cash dependent upon further revenues of between £5 million and £11.5 million over the next two years from the Department of Health contract.
David Docherty, chief executive of YooMedia, said that the acquisition of MMTV will leave their iPublic division as the only player with scale in the provision of public services via interactive television. With an assured revenue stream, combined with economies of scale, he said the transaction was “very appealing economically” to YooMedia.
He added: “Health is a key element of the government’s strategy to deliver public services via new media and this transaction puts iPublic centre stage in that arena. Essentially, iPublic and MMTV combined have an opportunity to create interactive public service television.”
Results
Reporting half year results, executive chairman Dr Michael Sinclair said that YooMedia has “continued the transition from promising new boy of the digital age to an interactive and entertainment business with scale and substance, with a leading position in the high-growth arena of interactive entertainment and information.”
Revenues for the first six months were up to £4 million from just £367,000 for the same period in the previous year.
The company has successfully combined the provision of public sector services with potentially lucrative positions in dating, gambling, gaming and mobile operations.
YooMedia has also announced that it will relaunch Dateline, Britain’s longest established computer based dating service, across internet, interactive television and mobile phone platforms as part of a range of dating and introductions services.