telegate acquires French directory services provider Scoot

Munich, July 21, 2005 - telegate Group has acquired as of today 100 percent of the French directory services provider Scoot France SARL. The purchase price is in the lower single-digit million euro range. The contractual parties have agreed to keep the detailed terms of the acquisition confidential.

With this transaction, the company reinforces its objective to take over the leading position after market opening of the French DA-market in November 2005 from the current monopoly telephone number '12“. The aim is to provide simplicity, transparency and innovative service to consumers in the market opening phase. Scoot France has already been active as a pioneer among alternative providers in the French directory inquiries market since 2001 and, beside telegate, has significantly promoted liberalization. During the phone number lottery in June, Scoot France was able to select the information number '118 000“. Market research clearly shows that this number is easiest to memorize, in the companies’ opinion resulting in a significant competitive edge for the carrier of the number.