Eminence Enterprise Limited — M&A Activity 2000

Mar 14, 2000

Listed Company Information

ACME LANDIS<0616> - Announcement i100 CORPORATION (Incorporated in Cayman Island with limited liability) ACME LANDIS HOLDINGS LIMITED (Incorporated in Bermuda with limited liability) ANNOUNCEMENT The directors (the "Directors") of Acme Landis Holdings Limited (the "C ompany") confirm that they have been informed by the directors of i100 Corporation that i100 Corporation is in discussions with Compuserve Consultants Limited ("Compuserve") in respect of a potential acquisition of a majority interest in Compuserve's publishing solutions business (the "Acquisition"). It is expected by the directors of i100 Corporation that the Acquisition, if it takes place, will be implemented and carried out by the Company or its wholly-owned subsidiary, subject to the approval of the Directors at the appropriate time. The Acquisition, if it takes place, is expected to be conditional upon the completion of subscription (the "Subscription") of 800,000,000 new shares in the Company by i100 Corporation and parties acting in concert with i100 Corporation (together the "Subscribers") representing 83.3% of the issued share capital of the Company as enlarged by the Subscription. Details of the Subscription are contained in the public announcement made jointly by the Company and other parties to that agreement on 1st February, 2000. It is the intention of the directors of i100 Corporation that, subject to completion of the Subscription and the Acquisition taking place, Compuserve will become a platform of the Company for launching a business-to-business Internet publishing business in Greater China. The amount of investment has not been determined. No agreement has been entered into in relation to the Acquisition and it is not certain whether the Acquisition will or will not take place. This statement is made at the request of the Securities and Futures Commission (the "Commission") and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the "Stock Exchange"). The directors of i100 Corporation wish to state that they are in discussions since 11th March 2000 with Compuserve, a third party independent of the Subscribers and the Company, regarding the Acquisition. They would like to refer to certain press reports published on 13th March 2000 regarding the proposed Acquisition and confirm that no terms have been agreed and no agreement has been entered into in relation to the Acquisition, and it is not certain whether the Acquisition will or will not take place. The terms of the Acquisition have not been finalised and the amount of investment has not been determined. However, should it proceed, it is expected that the Acquisition will be conditional on the completion of the Subscription, which is expected to take place on or before 31st March 2000. The directors of i100 Corporation have informed the Directors about the discussions with Compuserve in respect of the Acquisition. The directors of i100 Corporation will make a formal proposal to the Company when the terms of the Acquisition are finalised. The directors of i100 Corporation expect that the Acquisition, if it takes place, will be implemented and carried out by the Company or its wholly-owned subsidiary, subject to the approval of the Directors at the appropriate time. The Acquisition may or may not be a notifiable transaction under the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on the Stock Exchange. Information regarding Compuserve Compuserve was established in Hong Kong in 1986 and primarily engages in the development of computer technology-based total solution high-quality printing and graphics publishing systems for the Chinese-language media and print industry. It is one of Hong Kong's largest software development and system integration companies for the Chinese-language publishing, Internet and finance industries. Compuserve produces advertising systems, editorial workflow systems, web-publishing services and media publishing and production systems for many of the region's leading media and advertising publications. Currently, over 50 newspapers are deploying Compuserve's system, including Apple Daily, Hong Kong Economic Times, Taiwan China Daily News, the Taiwan Times, Singapore Press Holdings (Singapore LianHe Zao Bao, LianHe Wan Bao, Shin Min Daily News), China Press (Malaysia) and two leading magazine publishers in Hong Kong-TVEI Hong Kong and South China Media (formerly Yonder Hall Hong Kong). Compuserve services Chinese-language publications with approximately 40% market share in Taiwan, 85% market share in Hong Kong, and 100% in Singapore. Its systems publish over 1,000 news pages and more than 10,000 advertisements to 20 million readers every day. General As the Acquisition may or may not take place, shareholders of the Company and public investors are advised to exercise caution when dealing in the shares of the Company. The directors of i100 Corporation also confirm that they are considering other potential investment opportunities for the Company in Internet and Internet-related businesses. These are all at preliminary evaluation stage and preliminary discussions on some of these investments have taken place. No terms have been reached or agreement or decision has been made in respect of these investments, and such investments will be subject to the approval by the Directors at the appropriate time. The directors of i100 Corporation will keep the market informed regarding the Acquisition and these investments as and when appropriate. On behalf of the Board On behalf of the Board David Vong David Chiu Director Director i100 Corporation Acme Landis Holdings Limited Hong Kong, March 13, 2000 The Directors jointly and severally accept full responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained in this announcement and confirm, having made all reasonable enquiries, that to the best of their knowledge, the opinions expressed in this announcement have been arrived at after due and careful consideration and there are no other facts (other than those relating to the Subscribers and the Acquisition) not contained in this announcement, the omission of which would make any of their statements in this announcement misleading. The directors of i100 Corporation jointly and severally accept full responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained in this announcement and confirm, having made all reasonable enquiries, that to the best of their knowledge, the opinions expressed in this announcement have been arrived at after due and careful consideration and there are no other facts (other than those relating to the Company) not contained in this announcement, the omission of which would make any of their statements in this announcement misleading.