XFONE Acquires UK-Based Telecom Provider Equitalk.co.uk Limited
31 Mai 2006 - 3:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
Company's "Swiftnet" Operations to be Renamed XFONE U.K. LONDON,
May 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- XFONE, Inc. (AMEX:XFN), an
international diversified communications services company, today
announced that it has signed a Definitive Agreement to acquire
Equitalk.co.uk Limited, a privately held telephone company based in
the United Kingdom, in a restricted stock and warrant transaction
valued at $1.65 million. Upon the completion of the acquisition,
Equitalk shall become a wholly-owned subsidiary of XFONE, Inc.
Specific terms of the acquisition may be found by viewing a related
Form 8-K filed yesterday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission. Founded in December 1999 by John Mark Burton and James
Ruane, Equitalk, a VC-financed company, was the U.K.'s first fully
automated e-telco. It provides both residential and business
customers with low-cost IDA and CPS voice services, broadband and
teleconferencing. Anyone with a British Telecom (BT) line can use
Equitalk to cut their BT phone bill. Customers simply register
online, and are not required to switch from BT for line rental.
Serving thousands of customers each day, Equitalk achieved
approximately $2.1 million in revenues in 2005. Guy Nissenson,
President and Chief Executive Officer of XFONE, Inc., stated, "As
the genesis of XFONE, Inc., our U.K. business operating as
Swiftnet, has grown from a fledgling start-up in 1990 to over $14
million in annual sales in 2005, largely by providing
facilities-based services to telecommunications resellers in the
United Kingdom. However, to enhance XFONE's strong and steady
financial performance over the years, we felt that the time had
arrived to implement a much more ambitious growth strategy centered
on capturing greater market share in the highly competitive U.K.
market." Continuing, Nissenson added, "With the strategic
acquisition of Equitalk, we believe we have found an ideal
complement to our U.K. business that greatly strengthens its growth
platform, enhances its underpinning value proposition and
diversifies its revenue channels with a strong, well established,
direct customer base. Moreover, we are winning proven executive
leadership in John Burton, who has agreed to serve as the Managing
Director of our operations in the U.K. on an on-going basis, upon
the closing of this acquisition. In keeping with XFONE, Inc.'s
universal branding strategy, I'm also pleased to announce that we
are renaming Swiftnet to XFONE U.K." Commenting on the acquisition
and his appointment with the Company, Burton noted, "The
combination of Equitalk with Swiftnet, which will be re-branded
under XFONE U.K., marks a significant milestone for all of us and
serves as the first critical step in advancing our exciting new
business plan. Charged with leading XFONE U.K., I look forward to
working closely with Guy to execute a series of focused strategies
designed to rapidly distinguish our Company as a leader in the U.K.
telecom industry and as a preferred supplier of a comprehensive
range of low cost and high quality voice, video and data products
to our customers." Burton will bring to XFONE U.K. strong
entrepreneurial and executive management expertise in the telecom
field. Prior to founding Equitalk, Burton founded and served as
Managing Director of Nexus Telecom Limited. Under his leadership,
Nexus' designed and developed an award-winning server-based soft
switch that gained BABT and IBM approval. Prior to Nexus, Burton
was recruited by Griffin International to serve as Business
Development Manager tasked with broadening the telecoms markets in
which the Company operated. He also served as R&D Manager at
Nortel Networks, where he held line and project management
responsibility for 30 engineers based in the United States and
United Kingdom and for manufacturing operations in the Far East.
His team designed and developed the hardware and software for a
next generation, open architecture PBX system. Burton is a graduate
of the University of Liverpool where he earned a BEng degree in
Electronic Engineering. He also holds an MBA from the Cranfield
School of Management and a CEng MIEE designation from the Institute
of Electrical Engineers. About XFONE, Inc. A U.S.-domiciled
corporation, XFONE, Inc. is a voice, video and data communications
services provider with operations in the United Kingdom, the United
States and Israel that offers a wide range of services, which
include: local, long distance and international telephone services;
prepaid and postpaid calling cards; cellular services; reselling
opportunities; and email and fax broadcasting services. The Company
serves customers across Europe, Asia, North America, South America,
Australia and Africa. This press release contains forward-looking
statements. The words or phrases "should," "would be," "will
allow," "intends to," "will likely result," "are expected to,"
"will continue," "is anticipated," "estimate," "project," or
similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking
statements." The Company's financial results reflected above should
not be construed by any means as representative of the current or
future value of its common stock. All information set forth in this
press release, except historical and factual information,
represents forward-looking statements. This includes all statements
about the company's plans, beliefs, estimates and expectations.
These statements are based on current estimates and projections,
which involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those in the
forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include
issues related to rapidly changing technology and evolving
standards in the industries in which the Company and its
subsidiaries operate; the ability to obtain sufficient funding to
continue operations, maintain adequate cash flow, profitably
exploit new business, and license and sign new agreements; the
unpredictable nature of consumer preferences; and other factors set
forth in the Company's most recently filed annual report and
registration statement. Readers are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect
management's analysis only as of the date hereof. The Company
undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking
statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the
date hereof. Readers should carefully review the risks and
uncertainties described in other documents that the Company files
from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For
More Information, Please Contact: At XFONE, Inc. Alon Mualem, Chief
Financial Officer, 011-972-39254446 or via email at Or Elite
Financial Communications Group Dodi Handy, 407-585-1080 or via
email at DATASOURCE: XFONE, Inc. CONTACT: Alon Mualem, Chief
Financial Officer of XFONE, Inc., +011-972-39254446, or ; or Dodi
Handy of Elite Financial Communications Group, +1-407-585-1080, or
Web site: http://www.xfone.com/
Copyright
Xfone (AMEX:XFN)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Jun 2024 bis Jul 2024
Xfone (AMEX:XFN)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Jul 2023 bis Jul 2024