Intertainment Media Corporate Update TORONTO, CANADA and NEW YORK, NEW YORK--(Marketwired - Jan. 20, 2014) - Intertainment Media Inc. ("Intertainment Media" or "Company") (TSX VENTURE:INT)(OTCQX:ITMTF)(FRANKFURT:I4T) is pleased to provide a corporate update to its shareholders. The key components of the update cover internal programs, new business initiatives, portfolio investment companies, capital, Annual General and Special Meeting and investment / divestiture programs.
Over the past 14 months, management with guidance from its Board of Directors has spent a considerable amount of its time and energies devoted to reducing expenditures, moving from investment to execution, building key programs, like Yappn and Ortsbo's Customer Care initiatives and divesting of assets, including itiBiti, and Ad Taffy, Poynt and Tunezy and most recently announcing the proposed sale of Magnum Fine Commercial Printing Limited for an aggregate CDN $1.5 Million. The sales of itiBiti, Ad Taffy, Poynt and Magnum will continue to provide Intertainment with cash flow from payments of sale notes. With the divestitures completed and in the case of Magnum, underway and continuous expense review, the focus is concentrated on developing business programs for the Company's assets and investing in the creation and support of new initiatives.
Internal Programs and New Business Initiatives
The board and management have had ongoing discussions on how to best provide continued support and develop resources for Ortsbo as there is a considerable amount of opportunities within its business sector. The Company continues to evaluate internal and external opportunities for Ortsbo Inc. (www.ortsbo.com) and Mr. Anthony R. Pearlman, President and COO of Intertainment Media, upon his return from managing the sale of the Poynt technology and integration to the purchaser, is now focusing his primary energies on growing Ortsbo's Canadian and US operations and revenue generation. Mr. Pearlman has extensive experience in the Telecom and Business Processing Outsourcer (BPO) space, having previously held the position of President at Enghouse Systems in Toronto. Mr. Pearlman's mandate is to expand the key offerings of Ortsbo within the global Customer Care arena and build the core revenue and to continue to pursue stand alone strategies for the business unit. Mr. Pearlman will also continue to hold his positions at Intertainment Media Inc.
Intertainment is expected to continue to expand its current incubation activities throughout fiscal and calendar 2014 and has been reviewing a number of new activities in the US, Canada and overseas. Given the divestiture of certain assets and the continued reduction in ongoing expenses, the Company has been evaluating a number of new technologies and social engagement programs. These include opportunities in the areas of eCommerce, Social Media, 3D Technologies, Online Entertainment, Data Analytics, Advertising and Branding and Language Services. The focus for the Company is to find, support through investment, internal development and acquisition and ultimately create ongoing revenue and / or exit value for these enterprises, which are next generation programs showcasing leading edge technology and social solutions that have significant opportunities to scale revenue and value. As an established leader in this area, having sold 4 properties at a profitable level in 2013 and in the process of a further portfolio exit and valuation exercise on others, the Company has proven experience in this sector.
Portfolio Investment Companies
Intertainment Media has a number of key Portfolio investments in technology, social media, online advertising and graphic services.
Yappn Corp. (OTCQB:YPPN) (www.yappn.com) is a US public company and a major asset opportunity for Intertainment Media focused through its technology programs and language services platform to enable people and brands the ability, through social, eCommerce and communications programs to communicate without a language barrier. Mr. David Lucatch, CEO of Intertainment created the premise for Yappn in late 2012 and has spearheaded the development and its management as CEO. Yappn's business and technology programs are developing at a rapid pace with recent partnerships and Mr. Lucatch has spent a considerable amount of his time and energy engaging in Yappn business advancement. The Board of Directors of both Intertainment Media and Yappn Corp. believe that this process is paramount to the success of the program and to the value of the asset. Mr. Lucatch currently remains CEO of Intertainment Media and is working with the Board and management to evaluate all activities at Intertainment Media as Yappn's business continues to develop. Intertainment currently controls 70 Million shares in Yappn, with direct ownership of 42 million shares. These shares become free trading, and a potential long term source of income, after March 28, 2014.
Cap That™ (www.capthat.com), an Intertainment Media non-controlling minority interest portfolio investment which has patent pending photo and video capture technology, continues to create a buzz in the marketplace by introducing its technology into the entertainment, music, sports, gaming and user generated sectors. Recently, Cap That™ entered into a master licensing agreement with Disney Music Group which has paved the way for recent launches of Cap That™ powered sites for notable artists such as Demi Lovato (www.capdemi.com), and Lucy Hale (www.caplucy.com) who currently has the #1 country song on iTunes. In the upcoming weeks, Cap That™ will also be launching a Cap That™ powered site for Ubisoft's Assassin Creed video gaming property. Cap That™ will continue to introduce artist websites featuring its technology and expects to be announcing more strategic and content related partnerships in the near future.
Lexifone (www.lexifone.com), which Intertainment Media owns a non-controlling minority interest, recently launched Lexifone 2 which offers natural and real-time translation for several major languages and dialects, including 3 versions of English (Australian, U.K. and U.S.) French (Canadian and European), German, Hebrew, Italian, Mandarin (Chinese and Taiwanese), Portuguese (Brazilian and European), Russian and Spanish (European and Mexican). The new version of Lexifone processes voice as it hits the airwaves and doesn't require speakers to change their voice patterns or to stop to press buttons along the way and is based on patented technology that leverages computation linguistics / linguistic optimization. Lexifone is working with government agencies, hospitality organizations and communications companies increasing its sales channels. Intertainment Media is working with Lexifone to explore commercial services that enable voice recognition and translation for entertainment and social communications through Yappn and customer care programs through Ortsbo.
Itibiti Ventures (www.itibiti.com), to which Intertainment sold its full ownership stake in 2013, retaining up to 40% for $3 Million plus a liquidity event feature, manages and operates core telephony technology that brings brands and consumers together. Itibiti continues to accelerate its business, growing revenues significantly this past year. Itibiti is now creating new channels of content and brand opportunities and is expected to continue to grow its business in 2014, creating potential ongoing cash flow and note repayment opportunities for Intertainment.
theAudience, (www.theAudience.com) to which Intertainment Media owns a non-controlling minority interest portfolio investment, continues to grow significantly as it manages the social presence of hundreds of celebrities reaching about a billion people each month. Intertainment has agreements to develop managed language services initiatives with its portfolio companies such as Yappn and theAudience for their clients. Program initiatives are currently underway.
Intertainment will provide additional updates to its continued investments as information becomes available.
Capital Investment and Annual General Meeting
Intertainment Media has developed a number of channels for ongoing capitalization for its business and continues to engage discussion in the development of a long term, minimally dilutive investment program both with Investment banks and asset managers and debt holders. The Company believes that this program, coupled with its ongoing activities and potential divisional success will provide the Company with strong long term capital opportunities which will foster and help to increase its incubation activities. The Company remains confident in its long term capital strategy and investment program and its ability to continue to execute its business operations.
The Company announced that its Annual General and Special Meeting of Shareholders will be held on February 28, 2014 at 9:30 am Eastern at the Sheraton Parkway Hotel and Conference Centre in Richmond Hill, ON.
Learn more at www.intertainmentmedia.com
About Intertainment - www.intertainmentmedia.com
Intertainment is one of Canada's leading technology incubators and is focused on developing, nurturing and investing in both North American and global technologies and companies that provide technology solutions for brands and consumers alike. Intertainment also owns and operates a number of key properties and has investments in leading edge technologies and social media platforms, including Magnum, Ortsbo, CapThat, theAudience, Lexifone, Shiny Ads and Yappn Corp (www.yappn.com). For more information on Intertainment and its properties, please visit www.intertainmentmedia.com
Intertainment is headquartered in the Toronto, Canada region, with offices in New York, Los Angeles and San Mateo, CA and is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "INT" (TSX VENTURE:INT) and in the US on the OTCQX Market under the symbol "ITMTF". Intertainment is also traded in Europe on the Open Market (Regulated Unofficial Market) Frankfurt Exchange under the symbol "I4T".
Forward Looking Information
This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of such statements under applicable securities law, including statements relating to the expected use of proceeds of the Offering.
Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Actual timelines associated may vary from those anticipated in this news release and such variations may be material. Actual results could differ materially because of factors discussed in the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statements or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulators. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change, unless required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information.