OVER €5.3 MILLION FOR THE EXIT OF PRESTIAMOCI, STARTUP OF DIGITAL MAGICS

OVER €5.3 MILLION FOR THE EXIT OF PRESTIAMOCI,  STARTUP OF DIGITAL MAGICS

The first and only Italian finance startup for private lending will merge with the Norwegian TrustBuddy: the only company of Peer-to-Peer Lending in the world to be listed on the stock market

The seventh exit process from the incubator Digital Magics has begun: Prestiamoci was valued for over €5.3 million that will be paid in cash and buyer equity. The binding offer is subject to due diligence and to authority approval

 

Milan, November 13, 2014 – Digital Magics, venture incubator of digital startups listed on the AIM Italia market of the Italian Stock Exchange (symbol: DM) has begun the process of the seventh exit (sale of a company). It is planned that Prestiamoci, the only Italian startup approved as a finance company by the Bank of Italy for the management of a private lending platform on the Internet, will merge with TrustBuddy International AB: the only company of peer-to-peer lending in the world to be listed on the stock market.

The value of the transaction, which allows the purchase of 100% of the shares of Agata S.p.A (the company that owns and manages the Prestiamoci brand), amounts to €5.3 million overall: €1.5 million will be paid in cash and €3.8 million in shares of TrustBuddy, according to an evaluation of the market that will be established shortly before the closing. In addition, the shareholders of Prestiamoci will receive 10 million of purchase options of the shares of TrustBuddy, with an exchange ratio of 1 option to 1 share by 2018 and a strike price equal to 160% of the price near the closing. The operation is subject to due diligence and to authority approval and the closing will be two weeks from delivery of that approval.

TrustBuddy, founded in 2009 in Norway, is a global leader within its segment and is active in the market of 9 countries in Europe. With more than 300,000 users and 7 locations in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Spain, Estonia and Poland, TrustBuddy is the largest brokerage platform in the provision of short-term loans, and since 2011 it has been the only social lending company in the world to be listed on the stock market, on NASDAQ OMX First North, a multilateral trading facility of the Stockholm Stock Exchange.

Digital Magics and the other investors of Prestiamoci, many of whom belong to the Digital Magics Angel Network, will become important shareholders of TrustBuddy through this transaction.

Digital Magics currently owns about 22.4% of Agata S.p.A., taking into account also the dilution caused by the stock option reserved for top management, with a purchase value of about €300,000. At the end of the transaction, the capital gain of the transfer will be about 300%, just a little more than a year after the first investment.

The history of Prestiamoci is an excellent example of the value added by Digital Magics: starting with a business model that is disruptive and innovative, and records growth rates in double figures in the rest of the world, Prestiamoci obtained, in the relaunch phase, the strategic and managerial support of the venture incubator Digital Magics. In less than a year, the incubator and the management team Daniele Loro, Michele Novelli, Stefano Miari and Federico Provinciali were able to relaunch and reorganise the company, until it becomes so successful as to attract the attention of major international investors and to sign the agreement with TrustBuddy.

In September 2014, Prestiamoci had obtained financing of €450,000 (see Press Release) and, in October 2013, a previous capital increase of €550,000 (see Press Release).

TrustBuddy chose Prestiamoci for the proprietary technology platform and the model built in Italy, which TrustBuddy wants to replicate in other European countries. After the acquisition of Prestiamoci, the Norwegian company will enter the Italian market through a finance company regulated by the Bank of Italy and will aim to accelerate its development of long-term loans on the Internet, further consolidating its leadership in Europe, as well as internationally.

Digital Magics will continue to support Prestiamoci in its growth phase with its expertise and know-how.

Jens Glasø, Trustbuddy CEO, said: “Prestiamoci and TrustBuddy is a great match, and jointly we will prove that the sum of the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Prestiamoci will help product acceleration and further diversify TrustBuddy’s product offering. This acquisition is part of TrustBuddy’s long term strategy of being the most diversified P2P operator in the world, and we look forward to working closely with our new colleagues who will strengthen the TrustBuddy Group management.”

Michele Novelli, Digital Magics Partner and Prestiamoci Managing Director, said: “The interest that was closed towards the startup in recent months it’s really amazing. The relaunch managed by Digital Magics has increased the value of Prestiamoci very quickly, that proves once again that the ability to execute is crucial to business success. We can also declare very proudly that our business model and platform were considered scalables and replicables in other countries. Prestiamoci is going to be the main long-term P2P platform of new TrustBuddy group.”

Enrico Gasperini, Digital Magics Founder and President, said: “We are extremely pleased with the agreement that started acquisition process of Prestiamoci by a company as important as TrustBuddy. This is the seventh exit for Digital Magics. This great achievement, considering the initial state of the ecosystem of venture capital in Italy, shows how our incubator and the ‘Digital Magics Angel Network’ are really able to move on the international level to find and engage sponsors and buyers of digital startups, in which we invest and believe.”

This Press Release is online at www.digitalmagics.com in the section on Investor Relations – Press Releases.

 

Digital Magics – www.digitalmagics.com

Digital Magics is a certified venture incubator of innovative digital start-ups that offer content and services with a high technological value. Digital Magics is listed on AIM Italia, the Alternative Capital Market dedicated to small and medium-sized Italian enterprises with high growth potential, organised and managed by the Italian Stock Exchange. Digital Magics builds and develops Internet start-ups, working alongside their founders, investing its capital and providing acceleration services. Starting from talents and ideas, it transforms them into successful disruptive businesses in the Italian and international digital economy. The incubator promotes a culture of entrepreneurship and risk, contributing to economic growth and employment for young people. Digital Magics offers services to support the innovation, creation and development of digital start-ups, and it supports them in the search for new Italian and international private and public investors to fund the successive stages of development. The Digital Magics model is unique in Italy and is based on the Digital Magics LAB: the team that identifies, analyses and launches new initiatives, providing innovative start-ups with digital business acceleration services for company development. Digital Magics has a track record of over 40 investments in start-ups. It has achieved 6 exits, and only 4 write-offs. To date, the incubator has invested approximately €14.8 million, of which 5 million comes from exits. Currently, the average investment is around €300,000.

Prestiamoci – www.prestiamoci.it

It is the leading private lending platform in Italy. A trademark of Agatha SpA, a company registered as a finance intermediary. Approved in 2009 by the Bank of Italy, Prestiamoci aims to develop the market for private lending (P2P) that allows investors to lend money to individuals and companies. Prestiamoci facilitates the distribution of the loan while providing only a portion of the total financing.

Integrae SIM acts as a Nomad and Specialist under the AIM Italia Issuers Regulations. For communication transmissions, Digital Magics makes use of the SDIR-NIS circuit, operated by BIt Market Services, a subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange Group.

For further information:

Digital Magics – Press Office

Giorgio Bocchieri – E-mail: giorgio.bocchieri@digitalmagics.com

IR Top – Financial and institutional communications

Floriana Vitale – E-mail: f.vitale@irtop.com

Dominico Gentile – E-mail: d.gentile@irtop.com

Integrae SIM – Nomad

Luca Di Liddo – E-mail: luca.diliddo@integraesim.it