ReelTime acquires XPmediacentre.com.au community forum

Adam Turner
Friday, 28 September 2007 09:53

Your IT - Entertainment

Struggling Internet video provider, ReelTime has acquired Australia's XPmediacentre.com.au community forum for $150,000 of ReelTime shares plus share options.

XPMediacentre is Australia's leading media centre online community, with over 160,000 unique browsers per month, 2.2 million monthly page views and a subscriber base of over 40,000.

The deal comes only days after ReelTime secured investment and assistance from online DVD and entertainment retailer, EzyDVD, with plans to rollout of the ReelTime Media Centre via EzyDVD retail stores.

ReelTime Media Ltd acquired the xpmediacentre.com.au in exchange for ReelTime shares and options as follows;

a) Six Million Ordinary shares to be issued at Two point Five cents ($0.025) and
b) three million options at six point five cents ($0.065) exercisable within 3 years and
c) three million options at ten cents ($0.10) exercisable within 3 years

According to ReelTime's ASX release, the website will NOT be "moderated" by ReelTime (the original release said it will, but ReelTime's PR company soon after issued a followup stating this was an error). The site will be kept as an independent forum promoting the use of media centres, access to legal download content and ReelTime will continue building upon the community which has been growing since 2003.
The deal also comes six months after Sony Pictures Entertainment came to ReelTime's rescue, snapping up almost $1m of ReelTime shares. ReelTime had suspended trading its shares mid February to undertake a capital raising, having burned through most of the $4 million it raised in an IPO in April 2006.
ReelTime is an Australian download-to-own service with movies available the same day they hit the shops. ReelTime movies are available in three formats: for watching on computer; for portable devices (but not the iPod); and for burning to DVD. The Sony announcement coincided with ReelTime's unveiling of its own Home Entertainment Centre, which is set to bring movie downloads into the living room direct to the TV. Until then ReelTime's downloads will only play on a computer, or on a television via an XBox 360 games console.

UPDATE:  XPmediacentre.com.au founder speaks on ReelTime deal