Essex Resource Corporation, a publicly held mineral exploration company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, has acquired a 100 percent interest in Universal Internet Marketing Ltd. (UMI), the owner of Casino Grande.com. The interest will be acquired through Essex's wholly-owned Barbados subsidiary.
Under the terms of the agreement, UIM will receive U.S.$200,000 and 12 million common shares of the company. The proposed issuance of the shares will be based on performance criteria derived from UIM's business plan and subject to the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange. An introductory fee of Cdn$15,000, to be paid in shares upon closing, is payable to Canaccord Capital Corporation.
Essex will refocus its business plan from natural resources to technology. As part of the acquisition, UIM's Edward Panos and Monty Sikka will be appointed to the board of the company. Panos, formerly with Microsoft, and Sikka have expertise in e-commerce and have held financial management positions.
UIM is an internet marketing company formed to meet the requirements of the huge market for web users interested in gaming, gaming resorts and casinos. It owns proprietary rights to Casino Grande.com, Cyber Vegas.com, 123 Lottery.com and Pick the Pros.com.
The company's main product, Casino Grande, is a Java-based online casino, located at http://www.casinogrande.com, that offers blackjack, video poker, craps, roulette and slots.
UIM plans to build and operate a full service, ever-expanding group of entertainment sites centered around, but not limited to, online gaming. This will include Cyber Vegas, an Internet portal to both the physical and virtual gaming worlds, as well as related Internet sports based opportunities. The company hopes to launch the portal site in the in the second quarter of 1999.
More details on the status of the sale as well as future plans will be available in mid summer.