DGAP-News: Scout24 AG / Key word(s): Investment Scout24 AG: ImmobilienScout24 acquires minority share in start-up Salz&Brot 21.12.2015 / 11:00 The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scout24 AG: ImmobilienScout24 acquires minority share in start-up Salz&Brot Berlin, December 21, 2015 - ImmobilienScout24, the leading European digital real estate market place operated by Scout24 AG, acquires 15 percent of the Düsseldorf start-up Salz&Brot (which translates to Salt&Bread). This strategic partnership intends to expand ImmobilienScout24's reach among a younger target audience, which is active on social media. Salz&Brot operates a real estate portal for people looking for housing and relies heavily on social media channels for communicating with clients. The startup makes use of city pages on Facebook which are aimed primarily at younger users. "We started the cooperation with Salz&Brot about a year ago and intend to intensify it further through our newly acquired shares," says Christoph Monnet, Vice President for Group Business Development at Scout24 AG. "Salz&Brot is the perfect partner for us, both to increase our presence among a young, well-networked target audience and to advance our understanding of how marketing real estate in networks like Facebook works. For our part, we are already integrating some of our vacancies at Salz&Brot right now." There are plans for other ImmobilienScout24 services, such as their moving services, to be integrated into Salz&Brot in the future. At the end of 2014, Salz&Brot moved into ImmobilienScout24's Co-Working Spaces at the start-up lab YOU IS NOW and received support from internal mentors. Some of ImmobilienScout24's housing listings were integrated with the Salz&Brot offerings to increase the start-up's reach in individual markets and expand the number of available housing units. Salz&Brot's user numbers increased dramatically after initial test runs were conducted in February 2015 in selected real estate markets. For example, the monthly website traffic from Hamburg jumped around 1,000 percent within a few weeks, while user numbers from Munich soared by nearly 3,000 percent. Importing the listings for other cities from ImmobilienScout24 also resulted in an increase of more than 160 percent in the number of total visits to Salz&Brot. "ImmobilienScout24 is the best sparring partner for us with regard to our business model and developing our growth strategy. Naturally, the shared ownership benefits us directly with access to enormous expertise", comments Tim Zimmermann, CEO of Salz&Brot Internet GmbH. "The close cooperation with ImmobilienScout24 lets us make a much broader spectrum of housing available to our users. We reach markets that we were unable to be active in before because of a lack of listings. Naturally, this has benefited us directly via a significant increase in traffic and more intensive utilization of our services." Both parties have agreed not to disclose any further details about the contract or purchase price. About Salz&Brot Besides ImmobilienScout24, Salz&Brot cooperates with companies with extensive real estate holdings, property management firms and housing cooperatives. Both landlords and tenants benefit from the online portal. Anyone looking for a tenant, a follow-up tenant, a sub-tenant or roommate can post an apartment or house at Salz&Brot free of charge. Those who are looking simply select the desired city and are presented with all relevant listings at a single glance. Contacting a landlord merely requires that they register with the site. Purchasing a premium pass gives the user preferential access to new listings and additional features that facilitate the search for their next dream home, such as immediate notification when there are matching hits.A new Salz&Brot service appeals to the constantly growing group of mobile users: potential tenants can have new listings sent to their smartphones directly via Whatsapp. To access this service you only have to register (for free) with a few clicks and off you go. The new feature has recently been introduced in 25 major cities and university towns: http://hallo.salzundbrot.com/whatsapp/. For additional information about Salz&Brot, please visit https://salzundbrot.com/. About ImmobilienScout24 ImmobilienScout24 is Germany's leading online marketplace for private and commercial real estate. The portal enables people to achieve their dream of finding the perfect space efficiently and in a stress-free manner. ImmobilienScout24 is very successful at bringing real estate providers, property owners, potential tenants and buyers together. More than 12 million users visit the portal every month (unique visitors desktop/mobile; according to comScore Media Metrix). ImmobilienScout24 achieves an aided brand awareness of 96 percent within the relevant target group throughout Germany. ImmobilienScout24 is part of the Scout24 Group, which operates the leading digital marketplaces in the fields of real estate and automobiles in Germany and selected European countries. You can find additional information at http://www.immobilienscout24.de/. Press contact Sonja May Immobilien Scout GmbH Phone: +49 (0)30 / 24 301 - 1966 E-mail: [email protected] Subscribe to press releases as an RSS feed: http://www.immobilienscout24.de/news/rss-feed/pm Press service on the website: http://www.immobilienscout24.de/presse About Scout24 Scout24 operates leading digital advertising platforms in Germany and in selected European countries. The core business under the umbrella brand Scout24 encompasses the digital marketplaces ImmobilienScout24 (real estate) and AutoScout24 (cars). ImmobilienScout24 is the leading digital platform for real estate advertising in Germany with regard to the number of user visits, dwell time as well as the number of customers and ads. AutoScout24 is a leading European digital platform for car advertising in terms of the monthly number of unique visitors and advertisements. Scout24's digital marketplaces permit people to realize their dream of the perfect private/commercial property or car simply, efficiently and smoothly. Additional information is available at http://www.scout24.com. Press contact Marie Fabiunke Head of Corporate Communications & PR Phone: +49 30 243 01 1427 E-mail: [email protected] Investor Relations contact Britta Schmidt Vice President Investor Relations & Treasury Phone: +49 89 44456 3278 E-mail: [email protected] Disclaimer: This document has been issued by Scout24 AG (the "Company" and, together with its direct and indirect subsidiaries, the "Group")) and does not constitute or form part of and should not be construed as any offer or invitation to sell or issue, or any solicitation of any offer to purchase or subscribe for, any securities of the Company, nor shall any part of it nor the fact of its distribution form part of or be relied on in connection with any contract or investment decision, nor does it constitute a recommendation regarding the securities of the Company or any present or future member of the Group. All information contained herein has been carefully prepared. However, no reliance may be placed for any purposes whatsoever on the information contained in this document or on its completeness. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is given by or on behalf of the Company or any of its directors, officers or employees or any other person as to the accuracy or completeness of the information or opinions contained in this document and no liability whatsoever is accepted by the Company or any of its directors, officers or employees nor any other person for any loss howsoever arising, directly or indirectly, from any use of such information or opinions or otherwise arising in connection therewith. The information contained in this press release is subject to amendment, revision and updating. Certain statements, beliefs and opinions in this document are forward-looking, which reflect the Company's or, as appropriate, senior management's current expectations and projections about future events. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions could adversely affect the outcome and financial effects of the plans and events described herein. Statements contained in this document regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any information contained in this press release (including forward-looking statements), whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this document. This document is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States of America. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States of America absent registration or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Neither this document nor any copy of it may be taken or transmitted into the United States of America, its territories or possessions or distributed, directly or indirectly, in the United States of America, its territories or possessions or to any US person. By attending, reviewing or consulting the presentation to which this document relates or by accepting this document you will be taken to have represented, warranted and undertaken that you have read and agree to comply with the contents of this notice. Nothing in this document constitutes tax advice. Persons should seek tax advice from their own consultants or advisors when making investment decisions. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21.12.2015 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Language: English Company: Scout24 AG Dingolfinger Str. 1 - 15 81673 Munich Germany Phone: +49 89 44456 - 0 Fax: +49 89 44456 - 3000 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.scout24.com ISIN: DE000A12DM80 WKN: A12DM8 Indices: SDAX Listed: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart, Tradegate Exchange End of News DGAP News Service --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 425321 21.12.2015