Holding in Co/Joint Venture

Griffin Mining Ld 26 April 2001 GRIFFIN MINING LIMITED GRIFFIN EARNS INTEREST IN OZMOSA LIMITED JOINT VENTURE BETWEEN SPORTINGBET.COM AND OZMOSA LIMITED Griffin Mining Limited ('Griffin' or 'the Company') is pleased to announce that it has earned a 4% interest in Ozmosa Limited ('Ozmosa'), a sports betting and casino operator in the East and South East Asia regions. The interest in Osmoza has been earned by Griffin in return for facilitating the transaction. Ozmosa has entered into agreements with Sportingbet.com (UK) plc ('Sportingbet') for the joint development of the Asian gaming market. As part of these agreements Sportingbet is acquiring a 1% equity interest in Ozmosa for a consideration of £1 million, together with an option to acquire a further 18.9% of the issued share capital of Ozmosa for £25 million. Ozmosa is currently considering a flotation of its shares on AIM. The directors of Griffin are considering, if and when such a flotation occurs, the distribution in specie of some of its holding of Ozmosa shares to its shareholders and / or the realisation of some to fund the construction and commissioning of Caijiaying. A decision on this will be made at the time of the Ozmosa flotation and a further announcement will be made at that time. The Chairman, Mladen Ninkov, commented; 'The Company remains totally committed to bringing the Caijiaying zinc-gold deposit into production as soon as possible, however, the Company continues to have significant deal making expertise in its staff which it occasionally will mobilise on other transactions, such as in the float of Griff-Tech.com plc, where Griffin's shareholder value can be significantly enhanced. We believe Ozmosa is such a transaction. The shareholders of Griffin, for no outlay, have been substantially rewarded for the efforts their management have made in this transaction. Hopefully this will be reflected in Griffin's share price as the true value of Ozmosa becomes apparent.' Sportingbet.com (UK) plc has today made the following announcement in connection with its agreements with Ozmosa for the joint development of the Asian gaming market: 'Sportingbet.com (UK) plc, the global online sportsbook, has signed an exclusive 5 year contract with Ozmosa Limited, a substantial network of gaming sales agents in East and South East Asia, to provide online sports betting and gaming facilities. The deal will compliment the existing marketing agreements that Sportingbet.com has in the region, providing it with one of the most established platforms in this important market. Ozmosa Limited, through its sales network, extensive marketing expertise and knowledge of the region, has attracted over 7,000 active customers, generating revenues of £80m, albeit from a limited product offering. Sportingbet will receive royalties equal to 45% of the gross margin on all sports bets and 10% of the gross margin on all casino bets. Ozmosa's current offering consists of sports betting on televised US baseball and the casino game, Baccarat. With the introduction by Sportingbet of an extensive range of new sports betting products, there is significant scope for future revenue growth. Sportingbet anticipates future revenue streams to be split 60% sports betting, 40% casino. Sportingbet will provide Ozmosa with £1m consideration for the benefits of the contract. Sportingbet will receive share capital in Ozmosa equal to 1% of the issued share capital of the Company and will be granted options over a further 18.9%. East and South East Asia is one of the world's most lucrative on-line sports betting markets, and is growing rapidly. This growth is set to expand further, particularly with the start of the 2001 European Soccer season, when live soccer will be televised into many parts of the region for the first time ever. Sportingbet will provide customers with the opportunity to bet on soccer and other major global sports. Importantly, Sportingbet will have a substantially enhanced presence in South East Asia, prior to its hosting of the 2002 World Cup, predicted to be the biggest global sports betting event. Ozmosa has a well established sales and distribution network which is highly successful. However, in order to capitalise upon the full potential in the region, a partner was required who could provide a robust international software platform with a global sports betting offering, and online financial processing in a well regulated environment. Sportingbet were deemed ideally placed to compliment Ozmosa existing skills and significantly expand the revenue potential. Under the terms of the contract, Ozmosa will be responsible for all marketing expenditures into the region. Sportingbet will provide all of the risk management, software functionality, financial management and administration, using its existing international software platform and multi currency online transaction processing. All of the bets landed under the contract will be managed through Sportingbet's Alderney base. Sportingbet now has exclusive agreements in place with Ozmosa and Singinvests which cover the whole of Asia. These agreements are complimentary and allow Sportingbet to enter into additional agreements in the region where appropriate. Commenting on the deal, Mark Blandford, Managing Director, Sportingbet.com said: 'Asia contains a number of very attractive markets and we believe that Ozmosa's coverage into East and South East Asia is complimentary to our existing activities in the region. We believe that Ozmosa is an ideal partner and will help Sportingbet.com consolidate its on-going strategy to become the leading on-line global bookmaker. Sportingbet's online expertise combined with Ozmosa's local knowledge will prove to be a very powerful combination. We have had great success with similar marketing deals which have been established in other Asian territories'. Gordon McIntosh, Managing Director Ozmosa Limited said: 'Sportingbet.com have the vision and understand the opportunities in the Asian market. They have the technical expertise, product knowledge and risk management expertise, making them the ideal partner for Ozmosa. This contract will provide substantial incremental shareholder value to both parties.'' Further information Mladen Ninkov - Chairman Telephone: +44(0)20 7663 9855 Charles Dampney - Charles Stanley Telephone: +44(0)20 7739 8200 Griffin Mining Limited's shares are quoted on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange (symbol GFM). The Company's news releases are available on the Company's web site: www.griffinmining.com
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