Convergence Partners increases exposure in digital media market; takes 25.55% stake in South African online gaming business SkillPod Media

9 September 2008 – Convergence Partners Investments, a Black Economic Empowerment investment company focusing on the Technology, Media and Telecommunications sector, today announced that it had taken a 25.55% stake in SkillPod Media (SkillPod), a pioneering South African online casual gaming company.

Established in 2003 by Mark van Diggelen, SkillPod began developing a dynamic proprietary content management system for online games. Over the past five years, the company entrenched itself as a major player in the South African market whilst concentrating on developing world-class supporting systems. A major differentiator for SkillPod is their ownership of the games’ source code that they purchase thereby allowing them to create a turnkey solution for clients including branding and customisation. This has seen them successfully develop games to support marketing campaigns for a number of well-known brands including OUTsurance, KTV and Golf Digest.

The transaction will see SkillPod issue new shares resulting in Convergence Partners owning 25.55% of SkillPod while the existing shareholders, Mark van Diggelen and Brabys Media Holdings, will jointly own the remaining 74.45%. Brabys is a long-established specialist business directory publisher and owner of brabys.com and Ananzi.com.

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Convergence Partners Investments, a Black Economic Empowerment investment company focusing on the Technology, Media and Telecommunications sector, announced today that it had taken a stake in Integrat, a major South African Wireless Applications Service Provider (WASP) Aggregator with related interests in digital content, online platforms and other ancillary activities.

WASPs are companies that connect to the cellular operators to provide services to the networks’ clients, usually in the form of premium-rated Short Message Services (SMS). As an Aggregator, Integrat supports its WASP customers with best-of-breed, locally developed, solutions offerings to seamlessly connect into SA’s highly regulated mobile networks in a matter of days, rather than months. Integrat’s offerings are globally competitive and have evolved over the years to include various Value Added Services, such as content manager, campaigns manager, mobile payment systems and other mobile handset-focused services. These products allow customers to deliver services within a very short time and without having to take responsibility for any development.

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