Investment in China

Brainspark PLC 22 May 2007 For Immediate Release 22 May 2007 Brainspark Plc ('Brainspark' or 'the Company') Incorporation of Company to invest in China First Investment Related Party Transaction Brainspark has incorporated China IPO Group Limited ('China IPO Group'), a wholly-owned company, under the 1991 Jersey Company Act. The business model of the China IPO Group, is to make investments in China, both on 6-12 months returns, in pre-IPO situations, and in 3-5 year return with high growth small- to medium- sized technology companies. In order to secure the deal flow the company is entering into first refusal relationships with some of the most important Chinese Science Parks and Incubators. As the name of China IPO Group indicates, the preferred exit from investments will be through IPOs with London Stock Market as the favourite choice.. China IPO Group has received an initial start up capital injection of approx £100,000 from Brainpark. IPO on the London market will be viewed as the preferred choice by China IPO Group to raise additional funds, following an initial round of financing which will begin in June 2007. Directors of China IPO Group will be the Rt. Hon. Earl of Cromer, Non-Executive Chairman, Professor Francesco Gardin, Executive Director, Mr. Edward Burman, Executive Director, and as Non-Executive Directors Mr. Dennis Bailey and Professor Liu Man Hong. Bedell Trust in Jersey will act as company secretary. Allen & Overy in Beijing has been retained as China IPO Group's law firm. Lord Cromer has extensive experience of China where he worked for almost 20 years as Managing Director and Director of several companies; he is also Chairman of JF China Region Fund, Japan High Yield Property Fund and Pedder Street Asia Absolute Return Fund, and is on the boards of the Cambridge Asia Fund, Schroder AsiaPacific Fund, Pacific Basin Shipping and other companies. He is Chairman of Cromer Associates Limited, a company which advises foreign companies investing in China and Chinese companies investing overseas. Francesco Gardin, Edward Burman and Dennis Bailey are Chairman and Directors of Brainspark Plc. Mr Edward Burman lives in Beijing, where he moved in 2003. Prof. Liu Man Hong is Director of the Venture Capital R&D Centre at Renmin University and Honorary Vice-Chairman of the Chinese Venture Capital Association, she holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University. China IPO Management Ltd is being incorporated as a WFOE (Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise) in China, located in Beijing, as a wholly owned subsidiary of China IPO Group acting as local management company. In April 2007 China IPO Group signed an exclusive contract with Xi'an International Business Incubator (XIBI) with more than 350 companies being incubated. XIBI is part of the Xi'an High Tech Zone, which hosts around 8,000 companies. Xi'an is one of the main Chinese centres for the Military Aerospace industry with 50 universities and research centres. Xi'an has a population of 8 million people and is the capital of Shaanxi Province, which has a total population of approximately 30 million. The contract gives Brainspark first-refusal rights on investment in the 350 companies currently incubated in XIBI, for an initial period of 2 years renewable for up to 10 years. Business sectors of the 350 companies range from alternative energies to advanced sensor technologies and added value services for mobile communications. Under the terms of the agreement, China IPO Management Limited will open an office within the incubator, provide training to entrepreneurs of the companies on capital markets, investment principles and international marketing. In addition the company will identify and monitor investment opportunities among the initial 350 incubated companies. China IPO Group is currently engaged in negotiations with further selected Science Parks in China. China IPO Group made its first pre-IPO investment in China in ET-China Holdings Ltd ('ET-China'), a travel company with its main operations in Guangzhou (Guangdong Province). ET-China is is primarily engaged in serving the leisure market in South China through the sale of air tickets, hotel rooms, packaged group tours and associated products and services to corporate entities and to individual travellers. In addition, ET-China, through a joint venture with China Southern Airlines, provides the e-ticketing service and back office support services for China Southern Airlines. South China covers nine provinces with a total population of 450 million people, and is considered the 16th largest economy in the world by GDP. China IPO Group has invested $200,000 (£100,000) as part of a $7,000,000 (£ 3,500,000) unsecured convertible loan note for pre-IPO funding; the minimum investment unit to be entitled to the best terms of the loan note is $500,000 (£ 250,000). The unit was offered to China IPO Group but the current capital structure of the company prevented it from subscribing the minimum investment. Two directors of China IPO Group, as well of Brainspark, Professor Francesco Gardin and Mr Dennis Bailey, agreed to subscribe the remaining $300,000 (£150,000) to match the minimum unit. The independent Directors of Brainspark confirmed that the investment by Professor Gardin and Mr Bailey is on no more favourable terms than the investment by China IPO Group. Mr. Luigi Fogliani, an 8.89% investor in Brainspark, has agreed to subscribe an additional $100,000 (£50,000) under the same terms as China IPO Group. The total investment therefore amounts to $600,000 (£300,000). Due to the co-investment by Brainspark Directors as set out above, the investment by Brainspark into ET-China is being treated as a Related Party Transaction under the AIM Rules for Companies. Accordingly, the independent Directors being Messrs. Edward Burman Alfredo Villa and David Meacher consider, having consulted Beaumont Cornish Limited, the Company's Nominated Adviser, consider that the terms of the investment by Brainspark are fair and reasonable insofar as the shareholders of Brainspark are concerned. For further information, please contact: Francesco Gardin, Brainspark plc, telephone: 00 39 335 296573 Roland Cornish, Beaumont Cornish Limited, telephone: 020 7628 3396 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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