Israeli-based telenovela production company Dori Media Group Ltd. announced today that the company will publish its prospectus and submit its application for the admission of its ordinary shares to trade on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange.
Admission is expected to become effective, and trading in the Company's ordinary shares is expected to commence, on 24 March 2005. The company's ticker will be "DMG".
The company also announced that it has raised GBP 3.23 million, ($6.1 million), before expenses, in a placing of 2,738,784 new ordinary shares with international investors at a placing price of 118 pence per share. The new ordinary shares represent 14.81 per cent of the enlarged share capital.
Immediately after admission, the company will have 18,488,784 ordinary shares in issue and a market capitalization, at the placing price, of approximately GBP 21.82 million ($41.5 million).
Dori Media Group is controlled by Mapal Communications Ltd. The existing shareholders in Dori Media Group are not selling any shares in the placing.
The telenovela is a serialized fictional melodrama television format of between 120-320 episodes. The telenovela has specific characteristics that distinguish it from English language soap operas to which it has been compared. Telenovela programmes typically last between six to fifteen months before reaching a climactic close. The group acquires rights to telenovela and produces its own telenovela programs, and sells broadcasting rights, format rights and TV ancillary business rights.
Dori Media president and CEO Nadav Palti stated, "Telenovela are continuing to increase in popularity around the world and Dori Media Group's experience gives it a competitive advantage to realise its strategic goals. We are delighted to see the overwhelming response that Dori Media Group received from international investors.
"The admission on London's AIM will enable us to increase our profile globally with both our existing partners and potential new customers around the world providing new opportunities to increase the volume of international productions, increase sales of these productions and form dedicated telenovela channels in appropriate world markets."
Dori Media stated that it wishes to build upon its position in telenovela production, distribution, broadcasting and merchandising, and capitalize on the international growth of the genre both organically and through acquisitions.
The group's business model focuses on a number of distinct but complementary businesses, each generating income independently: producing and distributing Telenovela; operating television channels; and selling related merchandise. In Israel the model has been fully implemented. The group operates two television channels in Israel, dedicated to telenovela: VIVA and VIVA Platina. In 2004, VIVA was the fifth most popular television channel of all TV channels available in Israel
The group plans to implement the same business model in other suitable markets worldwide.
Since its inception, the group has distributed telenovela in Israel. It now produces telenovelas, finances the production of and purchases rights to telenovela, primarily from Argentinian production companies, and distributes these productions worldwide. It also carries on a TV ancillary businesses, owns and manages two telenovela television channels and jointly produces a monthly print magazine dedicated to the telenovela genre.
The potential number of telenovela viewers around the world was estimated by the "Boston Globe" in 2004, relying on industry sources, at two billion. According to Venevision, their potential customer list for telenovela numbers some 350 television channels worldwide. The industry produces over 12,000 telenovela television hours annually, at an average cost of $48,000 per episode.
Historically more than 65,000 television hours have been purchased annually in Latin America alone and more than 53% of Latin Americans between the ages of 12 and 64 are believed to be regular viewers of telenovela.
Eastern Europe is a growing market for telenovela. Between 2002 and 2003 its distribution increased in some markets such as the Czech Republic by over 100%. In Bulgaria, the increase was 40%; in Romania, 30%; and in Poland, 15%. Subscribers increased by 30% overall.
Asia is second only to Latin America in terms of telenovela popularity.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on Tuesday, March 22, 2005