Adstreams $35 Million acquistition of Quichcut set to revolutionise advertising

Adstream, innovator in managing and distributing television and radio ads, has acquired Quickcut, leading global provider of print advertising services. As a result, the way the advertising community manages its creative assets is set to undergo a major transformation.

The deal was privately funded from cash and existing shareholders. Existing major shareholders Telstra, Paul Ramsey Holdings, Publicitas and Andy McKelvey, have all increased their investment in the new entity.

Having built an impressive reputation for managing advertising content over more than a decade and with over 200 employees in 10 markets today, Adstream, as the new business is known, now sees the way clear to establish what it believes will become the new infrastructure for the advertising sector.

Adstream's unique approach comes at a time when increasing media diversity is driving the demand for a cross-media platform that makes the creation, distribution and storage of advertising content easier to manage, locally and globally.

Andy Hopkinson, MD Adstream UK, comments: "Today's brand owners and advertising agencies are under enormous pressure to deliver operational efficiencies year on year. By moving creative management online the whole process becomes faster, cheaper and better. By integrating broadcast, online and print capabilities, we are able to provide customers with a cross-media, cross-continent platform which will transform the way they do business ".

The Global HQ moves from Sydney to Adstream's new London offices." It makes sense to base our management team from London as our focus is very much the Northern Hemisphere" says Gerard Barron, Adstream Group CEO. "Our European expansion is underway in Germany, France and Italy and other key markets with follow this year. We have also been working in China and Japan for more than two years now and we expect full commercial broadcast and print services there within the next three months. Our US business continues to grow particularly in print, and we will be making further announcements about our US expansion plans shortly."

For further information about Adstream or Quickcut please visit www.adstream.com or www.quickcut.com.

Note to editors:
Telstra: AUS$40 billion dollar telecoms company; Paul Ramsay Holdings: Owns and operates, via Ramsay Health Care, the largest private hospital network in Australia, and the largest regional television operator in Australia via Prime TV; Publicitas: Publicly quoted Swiss publishing and media group with group revenue over SWF2billion; Andy McKelvey: Digital media entrepreneur and founder and majority shareholder of Monster.com and TMP Worldwide.

About Adstream:
Adstream was founded in Australia in 2001 to provide digital asset management and distribution services to the global advertising community. Initially Adstream focused on Television and Radio commercial distribution and digital asset management. Today the company develops and provides easy-to-use web-based tools designed to improve the workflow of entire advertising campaigns from concept to distribution and asset management. In 2003 Adstream UK was appointed by the BACC, the UK's television regulator, to develop and commission an online approval system and has also achieved remarkable success in the television and radio asset management market.

The Adstream service involves the digitisation, storage, and large-scale distribution of millions of digital video and audio files throughout the advertising supply chain. Adstream users are able to access their valuable media content online and rely upon robust storage and a dedicated fibre network for delivery.

Adstream's online tools simplify complex workflow processes, adding value to agency clients, production and post-production houses, regulators and media outlets. The majority of leading Australian advertising agencies have now embraced Adstream's digital workflow, asset management and distribution services. More information is available at www.adstream.com.