Vancouver, BC -
MPH Ventures Corp. (TSX-V: MPS) (OTCBB: MPSFF) (Frankfurt:
IJA2) (the "Company") is pleased to provide an update to
shareholders with a year-end review of the Company's activities in
2015 and as well as providing guidance on its plans for 2016. MPH
Ventures had a transformative 2015 starting back in February when
the Company announced that with the most significant shift in
American policy towards Cuba in over fifty years management set out
to evaluate potential investments in Cuba.
Jim Pettit, President and CEO of MPH
Ventures, stated: "Travel restrictions that make it difficult for
most Americans to visit the Caribbean island remain in place but
new rules put in place by President Obama has made it much easier
for permitted Americans to visit Cuba than it has been for the last
half-century. We believe there is a great opportunity in buying a
profitable company already doing business focused on Cuba, growing
the existing Cuban travel business and website platform,
positioning the company for more success when the U.S. lifts the
tourist travel restrictions and ultimately the embargo, and
capturing a share of the huge potential increase in interest and
tourism to Cuba over the coming years. Tourism to Cuba is
multi-billion dollar industry and is growing rapidly with American
visitors already up 36% since Obama's announcement a year ago. MPH
as a Canadian company is uniquely positioned to tap into a
multi-billion dollar industry poised for significant growth as more
Americans travel to Cuba yet American travel companies are
prohibited from operating in Cuba and servicing this market until
the embargo is lifted."
MPH started the year by announcing
the appointment of Mr. Steve Marshall to its Cuban Investment
Advisory Board. Mr. Marshall spent 11 years in Cuba specializing in
Cuban joint ventures and successfully founded a number of
companies. He was a special advisor to a number of Cuban
corporations spearheading their entrance into the new economy and
providing support and investment in a range of commercial sectors.
He is knowledgeable concerning the idiosyncrasies of dealing with
the Cuban Government and Cuba's foreign investment laws. Steve's
past Cuban ventures have received coverage in the Financial Times,
BBC News, CNN, Time Magazine, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and
The Wall Street Journal. Steve will be an integral part to the
Company's success going forward.
In July of 2015, MPH announced that it had signed a Definitive
Agreement with the shareholder (Steve Marshall) of Travelucion S.L.
pursuant to which the Company would acquire a 20% interest in
Travelucion S.L. in exchange for 4 million common shares of MPH
Ventures and $100,000 in cash with an option to acquire the
remaining 80% interest.
Travelucion is a cash flow positive online travel digital media
company that specializes in travel marketing, electronic
reservation and online booking solutions for international visitors
to Cuba. It owns one of the most significant portfolios of Cuba
focused web properties and domains that have been promoting Cuba
and offering online travel services to the Caribbean nation since
1995. Travelucion's revenues have been increasing in the wake of
the notable shift in American policy towards Cuba as diplomatic
relations between the two nations normalize and with travel
restrictions on Americans visiting Cuba expected to gradually
relax. Online booking is one of the fastest growing sectors in the
travel industry and Travelucion is poised to take advantage of this
rapid growth.
Travelucion also owns 100% of 432
web assets popularizing Cuban Culture, Music, Celebrities, over
sixty major tourist destinations, Golf, Banking and Commerce which
collectively generate over 30 million page-views per year. Through
legacy agreements with Cuba's largest travel companies,
Travelucion's emblematic e-commerce brands like Havanatur.com, Cuba
VIP and GoCuba provide the company with access to a broader and
more diverse portfolio of national travel and tourism packages in
Cuba than any other travel provider. Travelucion is also uniquely
established to handle the travel requirements of qualified U.S.
travelers to Cuba. This allows permitted U.S. travelers, in
addition to non-U.S. travelers, the ability to indulge in high end
hotel and spa accommodations or create uniquely Cuban travel
packages with exclusive private home rentals, exotic/antique car
services and access to a multitude of exhilarating guided or
self-discovery tours across Cuba.
In September, following up on the
initial proposed acquisition news release, MPH Ventures announced
Travelucion had acquired an equity interest in a Cuban travel
supplier that recently opened an office in Havana. This strategic
acquisition further fortified the strength of Travelucion in the
heart of Cuba's travel sector, complementing its online travel
digital media division. A new and larger joint office was
inaugurated in the trendy Miramar district of Havana in October.
Due to the renewed international interest in Cuba, Travelucion is
seeking to further acquire equity in its long standing service
partners in an effort to vertically integrate the company and to
streamline joint back office and booking mechanisms using
Travelucion's proprietary Cuba centric booking platform and
software.
Just last month, MPH Ventures
announced Travelucion had signed an exclusive contract to begin
international commercialization and marketing of Cuban medical
treatments across its 432 Cuban related websites. The combination
of low cost of treatment and excellent post-operative
rehabilitation centres makes Cuba an ideal destination for medical
tourism. The National Health System of Cuba, along with its doctors
and surgeons, are world renowned as is Cuba's medical research.
Rising healthcare costs in
developed countries like Canada, America and European Nations,
coupled with the availability of high quality medical services at
lower prices in developing nations like Cuba has led to an
expansion of the medical tourism industry. Transparency Market
Research (TMR), a market intelligence and research firm, has
published a market study on the global medical tourism market,
estimating the total value of the global medical tourism market by
2019 to be US $32.5 billion. Travelucion estimates that Cuba's
nascent medical tourism sector could treat tens of thousands of
patients each year generating tens of millions in health care
sales, plus the additional sales related to extended stays,
rehabilitation and vacation time for patients.
This contract is a significant
development as it positions MPH's Travelucion within this rapidly
growing industry in addition to expanding and diversifying the
current business as an online travel and digital media company
specializing in travel marketing, electronic reservations and
online booking solutions for international visitors to Cuba. As per
the contract, Travelucion will be paid a 10% commission on all
medical procedures and treatments booked through its websites with
procedures ranging in price from a few hundred dollars up to US
+$50,000. To create a flagship website in conjunction with this
contract, MPH's Travelucion will completely overhaul one of its
existing medical tourism websites CubanHealth.com.
2016 Guidance and
Corporate Plans:
MPH Ventures and Travelucion are
gearing up for another busy, transformative year in 2016 with
numerous catalysts on the horizon. MPH expects to exercise its
option to purchase the remaining 80% interest for a total of 100%
in Travelucion sometime in the first half of 2016 through the
issuance of 16 million common shares of the Company. MPH's
management continues to work diligently to prepare for the ultimate
change of business that is expected to take place upon acquiring
the rest of Travelucion and is subject to TSX approval.
MPH's management sees an
opportunity for its shareholders in acquiring a successful company
that has been servicing international visitors to Cuba for over 15
years by modernizing and updating Travelucion's main booking sites
and its Cuban related sites, and leveraging the over 30 million
page-views per year these sites generate to drive revenue growth.
There will be additional significant upside when the U.S. lifts the
tourism travel ban on Cuba and also when the embargo is lifted.
Travelucion has seen an over 300%
increase in gross booking sales in 2015 as a private company. MPH's
management believes by taking Travelucion public this year in
Canada and with some strategic capital expenditures over the next
few years, revenues and earnings will grow further by:
-
Tapping into the burgeoning, yet underserviced,
U.S. travel market to Cuba as well as the already significant
Canadian travel market to Cuba (the majority of Travelucion's
clientele are currently European and Central/South American)
-
Updating and modernizing the 432 Cuban related
web sites to increase and monetize traffic to the main booking
sites/platform
-
Hiring a sales team and enhancing the corporate
profile through physical and on-line marketing
-
Joining up with the major GDS central booking
systems
-
Continue to build on its private home (Casa
Particulars) rental listings; Travelucion has been adding new
listings to its platform and is looking to use a model similar to
AirBNB
-
Further relaxation of the U.S. travel
restrictions to Cuba
Management also believes a number
of U.S. based travel companies, currently restricted from doing
business in and with Cuba, could possibly be interested in
acquiring Travelucion once the trade embargo is lifted.
Implementation of the
aforementioned revenue drivers and profit centres will be rolled
out over the next twelve months to grow the business and create
shareholder value. All in all, MPH is one of few opportunities
currently out there for investors, including Americans, to gain
investment exposure in a publicly listed Canadian company to the
island of Cuba in an environment of thawing diplomatic relations
between it and the U.S. Initially the business will be focused in
the high-growth sectors of online travel and digital media but
management expects other opportunities to arise in other sectors
and industries going forward as well.
About MPH
Ventures Corp.:
MPH Ventures has acquired of a 20%
interest in Travelucion S.L., an online travel digital media
company, with an option for a period of eight months, to acquire
the remaining 80% interest subject to shareholder and TSX Venture
Exchange approval. Travelucion is a cash-flow positive online
travel digital media company that specializes in travel marketing,
electronic reservations and online booking solutions for
international visitors to Cuba. Travelucion owns one of the most
significant portfolios of Cuban focused web assets, through 432
sites, which collectively generate over 30 million page-views per
year and direct traffic to the main Travelucion booking site.
MPH-Travelucion Presentation:
http://www.mphventurescorp.com/i/pdf/MPS_PPT.pdf
For further information on MPH
Ventures Corp. (TSX-V: MPS) visit the Company's website at
www.mphventurescorp.com .
MPH Ventures Corp. has approx.
33.3 million shares issued and outstanding.
MPH VENTURES CORP.
"Jim Pettit"
______________________________
JAMES G. PETTIT
President & CEO
For further information contact
myself or:
Don Myers
MPH Ventures Corp.
Director
Telephone: 604-687-3376
Toll Free: 800-567-8181
Facsimile: 604-687-3119
Email: info@mphventurescorp.com
NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE
NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE
ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.
This release includes certain
statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements".
All statements in this release, other than statements of historical
facts, that address events or developments that management of the
Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although
management believes the expectations expressed in such
forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions,
such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and
actual results or developments may differ materially from those in
the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no
obligation to update these forward-looking statements if
management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors,
should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market
prices, exploration and development successes, continued
availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market
or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the
Company at www.sedar.com for further information.
This
announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on
behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely
responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the
information contained therein.
Source: MPH Ventures Corp. via Globenewswire
HUG#1978478
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