EarthPort has now agreed that Adriaan Brink, who is currently managing Zabadoo, will head a consortium of European investors, Zabfin AG, which intends to implement a phased Management Buy Out (MBO) of the business of Zabadoo.
This process will begin with the acquisition of 20% of the Zabadoo business and the grant of a 10 year sub-licence of the development and marketing rights in respect of pluslotto.com and other lottery game arrangements. EarthPort will no longer be required to fund the business of Zabadoo.
An option to acquire the entire business may be exercised by Zabfin AG at any time prior to the end of the sub-licence, and Zabfin AG will introduce a number of investors to provide short term funding to continue to build the Zabadoo business and sales in order to attract further investment from a major lottery or media company. Talks are taking place between Zabfin AG and a number of potential partners and it is currently anticipated that a strategic alliance will be in place within 3 to 6 months.
Adriaan Brink will continue to serve as a director of EarthPort and contribute to the technical design. Arrangements have been made for a new Chief Technology Officer to be appointed, and this will be the subject of a separate announcement during the next week.