In the fourth quarter of 2007, Naspers (www.naspers.com) a EUR 2 bn (USD 2.7 bn) revenue (2007) multinational media company of South African origin and with principal operations in electronic and print media has obtained a stake in two internet oriented companies active in the Central Eastern Europe area:

• Gadu-Gadu S.A. (October) – operator of the biggest Polish internet communicator with estimated EUR 4 mln (PLN 14.4 mln) revenues and used by 6 mln Poles,
• Tradus plc, until recently QXL Ricardo plc (December) – owner of several highly successful e-commerce auction platforms including the Poland oriented www.allegro.pl, the Czech www.aukro.cz and the Swiss site www.ricardo.ch .

Tradus’ acquisition has been reported at EUR 1.33 bn (GBP 950 mln), while the purchase of a 55% majority share in Gadu Gadu from the Warsaw Equity Holding (investment fund) was valued at EUR 62 mln (PLN 230 mln). Currently Naspers controls 96% of Gadu-Gadu shares and aims to withdraw the company from the Warsaw Stock Exchange shortly. Disclosed total investment in both companies’ shares reached EUR 1.39 bn, while the real figure is estimated at EUR 1.44 bn.

In January 2007, Naspers’ position has also been strengthened in the Central and Eastern European region by the EUR 127 mln (USD 165 mln) purchase of 30% of of mail.ru ’s shares – the leading Russian internet portal.

In both cases, prior to the purchase decision being taken, PMR Consulting, a part of PMR Ltd., has supported Naspers with data and market intelligence on both targets and their market position compared with other e-market players in Central and Eastern Europe. PMR constantly monitors Central and Eastern European e-markets both through its advisory services as well as its internet and telecom dedicated portals (www.ictrussia.com and www.itandtelecompoland.com). PMR also publishes annual reports dedicated to this sector of economy (www.itandtelecompoland.com).