Close Brothers advised iTouch plc, one of the largest listed European mobile content companies, on the offer by For-side.com, the Japanese based mobile content provider. iTouch was acquired by For-side.com for £184 million in cash. The transaction represents the highest price paid for a mobile media business to date anywhere in the world and is also the largest takeover by a Japanese corporate of a company quoted on the London Stock Exchange. The deal was announced within three weeks of the approach by For-side.com and followed an extensive programme of contacts with potential suitors around the globe.

iTouch, listed on the London Stock Exchange since 2000 and with Independent News & Media plc as a 35% shareholder, provides information, entertainment and messaging services directly to the consumer and via affiliate partners and network operator portals. It has operations in 25 countries and is connected to 95 network operators across the globe.  2004, the company generated sales of £78.0 million and EBITDA of £8.1 million.

For-side.com, which has a market capitalisation of approximately ¥114 billion (c. £570 million) and whose shares trade on JASDAQ, provides similar services to iTouch.  had approximately 12.5 million subscribers globally in 16 countries.

Commenting on the transaction and Close Brothers’ role, Ivan Fallon, Chairman of iTouch, said “Close Brothers has been as professional as any bank I've known, providing good, calm and considered advice. Throughout the transaction I have been greatly impressed by their professionalism and dedication to us as a client, which at times have required efforts.”

David Bezem, Head of Media at Close Brothers, said “We thoroughly enjoyed working with iTouch, one of the major European mobile media content businesses. iTouch operates in a fast growing and dynamic sector globally. The transaction was exceptional in its speed and its size both within the mobile content sector and for a Japanese corporate takeover in the UK, a very rare event. This transaction adds further to our knowledge and understanding of the dynamics of the sector internationally and we look forward to developing our practice in this area further.”

For more information regarding this transaction or the industry, please contact David Bezem, Gareth Healy or Aatif Hassan on +44 (0) 20 7655 3100.