BOCA RATON, Florida - Feb. 1, 1999 - (PRIMEZONE) MICROCAP FINANCIAL SERVICES.COM, INC. (OTCBB: MFSI) announced it has signed an agreement to be the exclusive provider of investor information and services (stocks, bonds, and mutual funds) within the financial channel of Freeserve, the United Kingdom's largest and fastest-growing Internet Service Provider (ISP). Freeserve Limited, a subsidiary of Dixons Group plc, the UK's largest electronics retailer, has generated over one million accounts in only four months, more subscribers than America Online (NYSE: AOL) has in the UK.
Through this alliance, MFSI will operate an investment-related site called UK-iNvest.com within Freeserve's financial channel. UK-iNvest.com is intended to be the most comprehensive investment Web site in the UK and will be launched in March 1999.
UK-iNvest.com will be free to registered users and generate revenue through eCommerce, including online brokerage, as well as through advertising and sponsored content. It is intended to have a complete e-trading system in place by the end of the second quarter of 1999.
Content for the site will model that of MFSI's U.S. investment site, MicroCap1000.com, which currently has over 130,000 subscribers. MicroCap1000.com is recognized for its cutting-edge news and commentary and was rated by Barron's (11/23/98) as one of the top financial Web sites. UK-iNvest.com will feature interviews with leading investment managers and analysts commenting on stocks, funds, and market trends, as well as daily market news, up-to-the-minute quotes, historical performance charts, and a complete database on the UK's publicly traded companies.
The site will also offer investor education, investment commentary, and live streaming video and audio interactive Internet events.
"This is a significant move for Freeserve," says Mark Danby, General Manager of Freeserve. "The UK Internet market is experiencing rapid growth, and the UK public is showing increasing interest in financial investment matters. MicroCap1000's U.S. investment site impressed us, and we believe that UK-iNvest.com will set new standards for UK investment sites."
"Interest in the Internet in the UK is just now beginning to explode," says Jay Matulich, Chairman of MicroCap1000.com, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of MFSI. "Having the exclusive rights to provide investment-related content within Freeserve's financial channel will give us immediate access to a burgeoning number of UK citizens just beginning to use the Internet for investment information and transactions. Through its U.S. Web site, MicroCap1000.com, MFSI has demonstrated an ability to produce a critically acclaimed financial online publishing site. Expanding to the UK will give MFSI a platform to launch its model into the countries of European Union which collectively exceed the U.S. in terms of overall population and have a greater potential to attract Internet subscribers to our financial Web sites."
MFSI is a multimedia provider of online financial news and information services to the investment community. Its U.S. Web site, www.microcap1000.com, is designed to be the premier source for information on the MicroCap sector. The U.S. site, which was fully launched in early October 1998, provides comprehensive, Internet-based electronic publishing of unique content on the MicroCap sector; online investor relations services; and broadcasts over the Internet through video-streamed netcasts of various financial programs.
Freeserve Limited, a subsidiary of Dixons Group plc, has the option to purchase up to 2 million shares of MFSI over a three-year period.
Certain of the above statements may be forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. In such instances, actual results could differ materially as a result of a variety of factors, including competitive developments and other risk factors listed from time to time in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission reports.
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