Andersen Group Completes Acquisition of ComCor-TV; Company to Change Name to Moscow CableCom Corp, Trade Under Ticker ``MOCC''.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 24, 2004 Andersen Group, Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on : ANDR ANDR Anhydrite (lithological term) ANDR Additional National Design Requirement ) today announced that it had completed the acquisition of 100% of the equity of ZAO ZAO Zakrytoe Aktsionernoe Obschestvo (Russian: Closed Joint Stock Corporation) ZAO Zenith Angle Offset ZAO Aluminium Doped Zinc Oxide (material for producton of organic light-emitting diodes) ComCor-TV ("CCTV CCTV abbr. closed-circuit television CCTV closed-circuit television "), the Moscow, Russia-based provider of cable television and broadband Internet access Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just "broadband", is high speed Internet access—typically contrasted with dial-up access over modem. Dial-up modems are generally only capable of a maximum bitrate of 56 kbit/s (kilobits per second) and require the full use of a services, following receipt of consents from the Russian Economics Ministry and the Central Bank of Russia. Andersen issued 4,000,000 shares of its Common Stock to Moscow Telecommunications Corporation ("COMCOR") and 2,250,000 shares to the stockholders of Moscow Broadband Communication Ltd. ("MBC (Multimedia Benchmark Committee) A graphics benchmark that provides MPEG-2 and other tests. See GPC. ") to gain control of all of CCTV's equity that it had not previously beneficially owned. In the coming weeks, Andersen also expects to issue an additional 220,879 shares of its Common Stock to COMCOR in payment for approximately $1.38 million in liabilities owed by CCTV to COMCOR, in accordance with the agreements reached with COMCOR in May 2003. Upon the issuance of these shares, COMCOR will own approximately 49% of Andersen's outstanding Common Stock. COMCOR will continue to provide data and voice transportation services to CCTV over the Moscow Fiber Optic Network ("MFON") in accordance with a 50-year contract signed in April 2000 and amended in May 2003. These transactions were approved by Andersen's shareholders in October 2003. The Company also announced that it will change its name to "Moscow CableCom Corp." and will begin trading under its new NASDAQ ticker symbol Ticker Symbol An arrangement of characters (usually letters) representing a particular security listed on an exchange or otherwise traded publicly. When a company issues securities to the public marketplace, it selects an available ticker symbol for its securities which investors "MOCC MOCC Mobile Operations Control Center MOCC Mobile Operations Control Center (US Navy mobile rapid deployment system providing C4I support) MOCC Mission Operations Control Center MOCC Mobile Operations Command Center ", effective at market open, Thursday, February 26, 2004. Chairman Frank E. Baker commented, "We are very pleased to have successfully completed this acquisition and we welcome our new shareholders. All parties involved are very optimistic about CCTV's growth prospects, based on the level of acceptance of CCTV's services thus far. Moscow has no unified supplier (broadband) of TV, Internet and VOIP (Voice Over IP) A digital telephone service that uses the public Internet as well as private backbones instead of the traditional telephone network. Many companies, including Vonage, 8x8 and AT&T (CallVantage), typically offer calling within the country for a services other than ComCor-TV and the portions of Moscow covered by CCTV's licenses are hugely underserved with new technology. Subscribers for CCTV's premium cable television offerings have increased approximately 15% over December 2003, and there are approximately 10% more subscribers for Internet services than there were less than two months ago. Such growth will greatly contribute to CCTV reaching the point where it is generating cash from operations, which we expect to be within the next few months." About Andersen Group Andersen Group (www.andersengrp.com) is publicly currently traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol "ANDR". Andersen Group now has a 100% equity interest in CCTV (www.comcor-tv.ru), a Russian company that has licenses to provide telecommunications services to 1.5 million homes and businesses in Moscow. CCTV is using access to COMCOR's MFON to provide broadband services including cable television and high-speed Internet access to residential and business customers, with plans to add additional services including IP-based telephony. The Company will change its name to Moscow CableCom Corp., which more appropriately reflects the nature of the Company's business. Accordingly, the Company has reserved a new ticker symbol and expects to be able to begin trading under the symbol "MOCC" on February 26, 2004. Safe Harbor Safe Harbor 1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated. 2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive. Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995 This press release contains "forward-looking statements", as the phrase is defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. These statements relate to CCTV's development, including CCTV's ability to attract new subscribers, its ability to continue to expand its network, and its ability to achieve positive cash flow, and Andersen Group's ability to raise funds for the expansion of CCTV's network, and are based on management's best assessment of Andersen Group's and CCTV's strategic and financial position and of future market conditions and trends. These discussions involve risks and uncertainties, and the actual outcome may differ materially from these statements. Certain factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in any forward-looking statements are described in Andersen Group's Annual Report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. for the year ended February 28, 2003 and other public filings made by Andersen Group with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to our Proxy Statement filed on October 14, 2003 and our Form 10-Q for the period ended November 30, 2003 which descriptions are incorporate herein by reference. Andersen Group disclaims any obligation to update developments of these risks or to announce publicly any revision to any of the forward-looking statements contained in this release, or to make corrections to reflect future events or developments |
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