Mumbai, February 3, 2009: Rajasthan Royals, Champions of the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008 today announced that it was planning to add a strategic investment from London based entrepreneur Raj Kundra and his partner, well known Bollywood celebrity, Shilpa Shetty. Raj Kundra is the Chief Executive Officer of Essential General Trading LLC, a Dubai based international trading company dealing in precious metals, construction, mining and green renewable energy projects. Shilpa Shetty is the Chief Executive Officer of S2 Global Productions Pvt Ltd., which is her home film production company. The announcement was made by Manoj Badale, Chairman and joint owner, Rajasthan Royals.

Says Manoj Badale - Chairman & Joint Owner, Rajasthan Royals, “It is our pleasure to welcome our new investors Mr. Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty to the Royals. The selling of this stake is part of our long-term strategic approach to build the Rajasthan Royals into a global sports brand. Our resources are already focused on on-field investment in the key areas of player development infrastructure; international expansion; and to also support continued investment in our playing staff. However, this investment enhances the off-field commercial potential of a brand already recognised throughout India, and much of the global cricketing world.“

Says Raj Kundra - Chief Executive Officer, Essential General Trading LLC, Dubai, “The benefits to us of investing in this venture were to complement the assets of last year’s professionally managed champions. We can add the winning formula of Bollywood to create a true global cricket brand. I believe that the addition of Shilpa Shetty creates a multitude of commercial opportunities – for sponsors, for merchandisers and for ancillary development opportunities.”

Says Shilpa Shetty, Chief Executive Officer, S2 Global Productions Pvt. Ltd, “We have taken a strategic approach by investing in Rajasthan Royals – whose brand values we associate strongly with. Cricket is not a sport in our country, it’s a religion. I am very passionate about Cricket and who better to invest in than the current reigning IPL champions. It completes the success story for the IPL team by merging with Bollywood.”

As part of their strategic development of the Rajasthan Royals brand, the franchisee has lined up a slew of initiatives and licensing and merchandising plans to enable their army of supporters to uniquely connect with the team and the brand. Rajasthan Royals recently created and launched a five-tier Royals Army fan club membership programme by adopting global best practices and combined with elements that make the packages attractive for their community of fans both locally and globally.

The Royals Army membership programme has five fan categories, Maharaja Club, Captain's Club, Royal Lions Club, Royal Bugles Club and Young Royals Club, with membership fees ranging between Rs 2,500 and Rs 1.5 lakh. The benefits for the members include season tickets, autographed bats, official team jerseys, preferential access to tickets sold online and invitations to the season ending party.

The Rajasthan Royals have also chalked out extensive licensing and merchandising plans that will cover not just India but also countries like US, UK and Australia where the team already has a growing fan base. To begin with, the franchisee also wears a new logo that has been undertaken in line with the key re-branding initiatives across the Royals brand for various aspects including the jersey and other merchandise.

The franchisee has been offering various products such as jerseys, practice T-shirts, bags, sporting goods, team caps and autographed bats as merchandise since the first season. This year, they have decided to get aggressive with its merchandising business and doing it on a much larger scale.

In a first move, it has already started selling its merchandise online through its official website, www.rajasthanroyals.com. The prices for the various products range between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1 lakh. Going forward the company is looking at partnerships in different categories like FMCGs, linen and kids products. They would use Rajasthan Royals' branding to come out with product formulations. Besides the sportswear, Rajasthan Royals is also planning to launch formal wear and children’s products. The franchisee is in talks with many Indian and international brands to launch formal wear, including Jodhpuris and other apparels.

The franchise is also planning to come up with fan engagement contests in Rajasthan and Gujarat, and other activities such as cricket clinics and talents hunts, consumer activation programmes, and meet and greet cricketer and fan interactions in the near future.

About Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals is the Jaipur franchise cricket team that represents the state of Rajasthan in the Indian Premier League.The team is led and coached by Shane Warne. The team's mascot is a lion named Moochu Singh. The Rajasthan Royals team embodies the spirit of the Rajasthani people – of valour, courage and honour both on and off the field. Rajasthan Royals won the inaugural Indian Premium league held in April-May 2008.

About Essential General Trading, LLC

Established in 2004, Essential General Trading, LLC is a Dubai-based international trading company dealing in precious metals, construction, mining and green renewable energy projects. Raj Kundra is the Chief Executive Officer of the company. Raj Kundra is also engaged in financing and producing Bollywood movies. Born in a family of businessman from Punjab, Raj left education at the age of 18 to start his own business. Raj Kundra has won many accolades and awards in his career. In 2003, he won the ‘young entrepreneur of the year’ award at the Natural History Museum in London. Raj Kundra was named the 198th Richest British Asian, by Success: The Richest British Asians Magazine, in 2004. In 2007, the UK born Indian was nominated in the ‘small business’ award category at the Lloyds TSB Asian Jewel Awards.

For further information, please contact:
Suresh Rangarajan/Poonam Nikam
Vaishnavi Corporate Communications
Tel: +91-22-66568713/8715
Mobile: +91-9821611560 (Suresh) /+91-9821718954 (Poonam)
Email: suresh@vccpl.com, poonam@vccpl.com

Investcorp will work alongside TDX Group’s founders, Blenheim Chalcot, and existing management team to drive future growth in its existing UK and international businesses. Established in 2004 and headquartered in Nottingham in the UK, TDX Group assists its clients in maximising the value of arrears debt portfolios through analytics and data driven asset sales, recoveries management and financial difficulties service platforms. In the UK, TDX Group sells over 40% of all defaulted unsecured consumer debt and by the end of the year, the company’s recoveries management platform will manage approximately five million accounts.

In addition, TDX Group runs The Insolvency Exchange, which advises on more than 80% of the UK’s Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs)1 on behalf of creditors, the process by which debtors negotiate a repayment plan with their creditors in order to avoid bankruptcy. Earlier this year TDX Group launched a similar scheme, The Debt Management Exchange to address the growing market for debt management plans2.

Mark Onyett, TDX Group’s Chief Executive, said: “Our partnership with Investcorp marks a new phase in our development. As well as bringing market insight and additional financial strength, Investcorp shares our ambitious vision of how to expand the company both in its core UK market as well as internationally. To attract a partner of Investcorp’s calibre underscores the strength of our business model and management team.”

Hazem Ben-Gacem, Managing Director at Investcorp, said: “We are very pleased to work with Mark and his management team, who have, in a short period of time, established TDX Group as the market leading provider of arrears management solutions in the UK. TDX Group has a comprehensive service offering with a proven and measurable track record in reducing its customers’ debt write-offs, and we think there is substantial growth potential for the business in the years to come.”

In the UK, the total debt (secured and unsecured) of the UK population is approximately £1.4 trillion. Furthermore, the global economic slowdown is resulting in an upswing in delinquent debt across many countries. Given this, the need for quality arrears management has significantly increased, as an improved collection or sales strategy for delinquent debt can result in considerably lower write-offs for creditors.

Media Contacts
Fishburn Hedges
Jane Padgham/Andrew Marshall
+44 (0) 20 7839 4321

Investcorp
Deborah Botwood Smith
+44 (0) 20 7629 6600

Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Patrick Evans/ Phil Anderson
+44 (0) 20 7638 9571

TDX Group
Kirsty Macpherson
+44 (0) 115 953 1253

Advisors to the transaction

Investcorp
Financial advisor: PricewaterhouseCoopers
Legal advisor: S J Berwin

TDX Group
Financial advisor: William Blair & Company
Legal advisor: CMS Cameron McKenna

About Investcorp Technology Partners

Investcorp Technology Partners is a leading private equity investor in small and mediumsized technology businesses in North America and Europe. The team focuses on growth capital, buyout, corporate carve-out and take-private transactions. Some of the group’s recent investments in the UK include Moneybookers Ltd., Europe’s leading independent emoney issuer, Sophos Ltd., one of the world’s largest security software providers and kgb Inc., the parent company for The Number Ltd, the UK’s leading directory assistance provider under the 118 118 number.

Investcorp Technology Partners is part of Investcorp, a leading provider and manager of alternative investment products. It has offices in London and New York and is publicly traded on the Bahrain Stock Exchange (INVCORP) and the London Stock Exchange (IVC). Investcorp has five lines of business: private equity, hedge funds, real estate, technology investment and Gulf growth capital. Founded in 1982, Investcorp has grown to become one of the largest and most diverse alternative investment managers in terms of both product offerings and geography. As of September 30, 2008, Investcorp had approximately $17 billion in invested assets under management.

About TDX Group

TDX Group is a leading provider of credit risk management solutions, whose information-based approach is revolutionising the industry. In the UK, TDX Group sells over 40% of all defaulted debt and manages debt portfolios for leading financial services companies, utility providers and debt portfolio owners. Additionally, it runs IVA and Debt Management Plan (DMP) hubs for creditors and IPs: The Insolvency Exchange (TIX) and The Debt Management Exchange (DMX). Through its combined UK and Spanish offices, TDX Group offers services across Europe, North and South America and Asia.

Its unique intermediary position provides TDX Group with access to unrivalled information on debt sale, debt purchase, IVAs and recoveries strategy and performance. Through sophisticated analysis of this information TDX Group is enabling creditors and debt portfolio owners to improve returns on their semi and non-performing assets. TDX Group has worked on behalf of all of the major banks in the UK, several major utility companies and a number of other financial services companies.

1 Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA)
Normally an alternative to bankruptcy proceedings, an IVA enables someone to make a voluntary arrangement with their creditors through the law courts for the settlements of debts. Typically IVA's last for a 5 year period at the end of which and unsettled debt is wiped clear by the individual’s creditors.

2 Debt Management Plan (DMP)
A Debt Management Plan (DMP) is an informal arrangement between an individual and their creditors. DMPs are not binding agreements and involve full repayment of any outstanding debt over an extended period of time.

StrategyEye, a revolutionary business intelligence tool covering the Digital Media and CleanTech markets, is today announcing it has broken through a highly significant industry milestone.

Between the Digital Media and CleanTech markets, the revolutionary service now tracks, analyses and reports on just over 20,000 companies, 2,700 of them listed – a 30 per cent year-on-year increase.

This represents one of the highest levels of coverage globally of the two sectors, and reinforces the potency of StrategyEye as a powerful business utility.

StrategyEye enterprise clients include Microsoft, MTV, Accel, UBS, Jefferies and Philips amongst many others.

CEO Nick Gregg : “20,000 companies gives StrategyEye a unique global view. The sheer number being tracked means that our users can see a near-perfect, industry wide picture of two highly dynamic and important markets. Nobody else is doing what we’re doing in the way we’re doing it, and we’re proud to have reached this important milestone.”

The service shows users up to the minute information on partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, and venture capital deals along with other relevant news. Uniquely in the business intelligence sector the information utilizes tens of thousands of trusted blogs to garner cutting edge opinion and analysis. Adding to the mix, experienced human analysts provide their input to complete the picture. Data is presented visually in map form as a ‘battlefield view’ which instantly allows users to see areas of activity and possible opportunities. The 20,000 monitored companies are indexed into 450 Digital Media categories and 201 CleanTech categories.

“We are adding a total of 40 companies a day to the service, so StrategyEye isn’t standing still. Our clients deserve the best, and we’re working hard every day to improve the depth and breadth of our coverage.” Says Gregg.

Analysts measured the worldwide business intelligence sector to be worth significantly more than USD 381 bn†. According to experts, the sector is increasingly instrumental in driving effectiveness and innovation in business.

• You can see StrategyEye in action at http://www.strategyeye.com

Judges commented on eviivo and its revolutionary online booking system frontdesk:

“An excellent piece of technology which values and helps the smaller players in the industry to work with the major brands. This is changing the distribution landscape for small brands.”

The Travolution Awards are organised by Travolution Magazine - the UK's only media brand dedicated to the online travel industry - and is the most respected event for the travel sector. The Travolution Awards recognise the best operators, agents, portals, digital marketers and suppliers in the industry, and were unveiled at an evening ceremony on Thursday 24 April.

The deal is a significant boost for London-based StrategyEye, which provides highly filtered information, analysis and collaboration tools to senior executives in complex industries such as digital media and clean technologies.

BNET Industries is a major strategic initiative for CNET (Nasdaq: CNET). It combines original reporting with information on the business fundamentals of more than 9,000 public companies covering 11 industries. It gives business managers a single destination to research activity.

The BNET integration is the first global content licensing deal for StrategyEye. The company is providing its feeds alongside a small number of established global providers such as Reuters.

StrategyEye is now able to leverage its meta-data and categorisation approach in such a way as to allow it to integrate granular xml feeds on individual companies and categories (social networks for example) into major portals and corporate intranets.

“The BNET goal to help executives monitor their ecosystem more effectively fits very closely with our core approach to adding contextual, meta-data driven intelligence to any corporate activity,” commented Nick Gregg, CEO of StrategyEye.

“Our value-chain mapping coupled with the accuracy of our article indexing will allow BNET users to rapidly understand the context of any event and to easily assess its strategic impact on other related companies or categories.”

The deal was welcomed by Greg Mason, senior vice president of CNET Networks business and technology properties. “Many of the issues that managers face are universal in nature – they apply in all industries, professions, and countries.

“StrategyEye’s contextual content in complex or rapidly-changing industries, such as Digital Media, enables our global audiences to identify and interpret trends quickly – helping them make faster, more informed business decisions and to spot potential emerging opportunities or competitive risks.”

For further information please contact Kim Baker at StrategyEye on + 44 (0) 72442204 or Toby Moore at Monument Public Relations: + 44 (0) 79533800

TDX Group has launched a business to provide services to Spain and Portugal. By incorporating the existing credit risk consultancy business of Madrid based Indigo Value Analysis [“Indigo”]; the new company is well positioned to grow in a rapidly developing market.

Leveraging TDX Group’s experience in the UK debt market, the business will assist Spanish banks and consumer finance companies in maximising their returns from delinquent portfolios, at a time when levels of personal debt are rapidly increasing.

Analysis by TDX Group and Indigo indicates that the Spanish retail banking sector is experiencing many of the challenges faced by its UK counterpart in recent years; years of lending growth of over 20%, and the indebtedness associated with that, have led to a doubling of Spain’s personal debt-income ratio of individuals in the last decade - now well over 100%.

Current market conditions, including stagnating house prices, higher interest rates and inflation are further complicating matters. Spanish banking institutions and consumer finance providers are experiencing higher bad debt levels, which rose by 35% in 2007. Analysis indicates that total arrears resulting from all types of consumer lending will grow to 20 billion euros by 2010.

In order to react effectively to the changing landscape, TDX Group believes that Spanish creditors should look to their arrears management strategies as an opportunity to compensate for slowing growth by extracting additional value from their portfolios.

In the UK, TDX Group has worked with a number of major clients to drive significant improvement in arrears management and returns from semi and non-performing assets including HSBC, Halifax-Bank of Scotland, Alliance & Leicester and Eon. The Spanish business will provide a similar range of analytics-based solutions to financial institutions and utilities including:

• Advisory services – working with creditors to define and drive programmes of joint investment and improvement in credit risk management
• Asset valuation and sales – maximising returns for sold debt through a full end-to-end solution from sale strategy to execution and resale services
• Recoveries management – achieving a 15-20% like-for-like improvement in portfolio performance for creditors by placing and managing debt through a network of leading collection agencies

Mark Onyett Chief Executive of TDX Group said: “This move marks the next step in TDX Group’s rapid evolution from a start-up four years ago to a well-established business with a blue chip client base and ambitious plans for international growth. As well as Spain, we are also attracted to the Latin American market, where Indigo already has a foothold.”

Onyett added, “With Spanish banks facing the prospect of rising delinquencies and losses, we believe there is a tremendous opportunity to revolutionise the Spanish debt industry. Spain today closely resembles the UK retail banking sector four years ago when the challenging loss environment was just emerging. We expect conditions in Spain to follow a similar trajectory as they did in the UK over the last 4 years. Given this backdrop, Spanish banks have a strong opportunity to learn from the UK experience and adopt a best practice approach. We strongly believe that the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach is no longer appropriate, and creditors will need to move to a segmentation driven strategy, where consumers’ personal circumstances can be taken into account.”

Luis Montero, Chairman, Indigo, added: “Indigo has already developed strong relationships with many of Spain’s leading banks and consumer finance organisations, many of whom are under no illusion about the need to implement a more focused and strategic approach to dealing with non-performing portfolios. TDX Group’s approach has created tremendous value for UK creditors and we feel that by combining Indigo’s strength in credit risk, we can rapidly begin helping Spanish creditors to adopt a broader and more sophisticated approach to deal with the worsening debt climate.” Prior to founding Indigo, Luis was a director and leader in McKinsey & Company’s Iberian Peninsula Financial Institutions Practice. He will serve as managing director of TDX Group in Spain.

Emerging Media, has been a significant and long standing investor in cricket through its subsidiary – Investors in Cricket (IIC). The group is focused on developing properties for the Indian sub-continent. The group has a commercial partnership with Leicestershire County Cricket Club, and staged the first ever international club 20-20 championship in 2006. In India, the company is best known for launching the largest ever talent hunt reality show ‘Cricket Star’ on Doordarshan (the national channel) and Zee ( a satellite channel) last year.

Emerging Media had targeted the Jaipur franchise, given its world class facilities, and especially the academy, which is where Cricket Star 2020 (the next series) will be based. There is also a significant Rajasthani diaspora outside of India (the Marwari community), which the company hopes to reach.

Manoj Badale, chairman of Emerging Media, said ‘we are delighted by the award, and we recognise that the hard work begins now. The IPL is probably the most significant and historic development in domestic cricket globally.’

Fraser Castellino, CEO of Emerging Media, said ‘our experience with Cricket Star 2020 has given us great insights into the undiscovered talent in India. We now have a platform to display this talent through the Jaipur franchise.’

About Emerging Media

Emerging Media is a media group focused on the Indian Subcontinent. Through our subsidiary, Investors in Cricket, Emerging Media launched India’s first Cricket talent hunt and reality show (Cricket Star), after developing a partnership with Leicestershire county cricket club, and staging the first international club 20-20 championship.

Contact
Lily Ahluwalia - IPAN

Debt Free Direct Group (DFD), the leading debt advice and solutions company, today announces its interim results for the six months ended 31 October 2007.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Group to be renamed Fairpoint Group Plc. (“Fairpoint” or the “Group”)
• Clarity on agreed fee structures and confirmation of Fairpoint’s successful audit and “accreditation ready” status
• Growing consumer debt problem and the “credit-crunch” provides an increasingly favourable market backdrop
• The benefits of the Group’s scale and industry-leading performance increasingly important and already becoming evident
• Fairpoint’s new strategic direction set:
  • continue industry consolidation plans as market leader, following the successful integration of Clear Start UK Limited (“Clear Start”), which is anticipated to deliver greater-than-expected synergies of £2m over the next 12 months
  • develop as a broader based financial services company with full range of solutions for “financially stressed” consumers
  • accelerate the growth of non-IVA products and services
• Total Group revenue in H1 FY08 of £20.1m, including a £4.7m non-recurring item (H1 FY07: £13.0m)
• Adjusted profit before tax in H1 FY08 of £5.4m, including net £4m non-recurring items (H1 FY07: £5.4m)
• Watershed in industry providing marked change in trading environment. Positive outlook, with significant profitability and growth expected. We are now able to forecast with greater confidence given agreed fee structures and a more stable backdrop.

Mike Blackburn, Chairman, said:

“It has been a challenging first half where the well-documented issues affecting the IVA industry impacted on the Group’s profitability, particularly as we continued to invest heavily in marketing in order to grow our market share and build up our back book. We have seen a material improvement in the key factors influencing trading in the last two months. The competitive landscape has changed following a period of uncertainty in the industry. We now have an equilibrium in which the newly named Fairpoint Group can prosper as a market leader in providing solutions for the increasingly financially stressed UK consumer. The board is approaching the future with considerable optimism for a return to significant growth and profitability. Against that background the Board itself is undergoing further changes. Paul Latham, Finance Director and one of the founders of the business, has chosen to step down today but will remain available to ensure a smooth handover to his successor. I would like thank Paul for his invaluable contribution in building up the market leading position of DFD. Further details are provided later in this announcement.”

INTRODUCTION TO FAIRPOINT

Following the acquisition of Clear Start UK Limited in June 2007 and the creation of an enlarged group with a broadening service range, it is proposed that the Group will change its name to Fairpoint Group Plc. A resolution to that effect will be put to shareholders at a forthcoming EGM (notices to be given as soon as practicable). The Group will continue to operate all its existing consumer brands.

The new board of Fairpoint has agreed a strategic plan for the group which is to continue its growth as a Financial Services provider of advice and solutions to ‘financially stressed” consumers. We expect to continue to be the market-leading provider of IVA solutions to over-indebted consumers but also offer a broader range of debt solutions, as well as a new suite of products and services aimed at assisting consumers as they rehabilitate their finances and thereafter. These will be added by both organic development and consolidating in-fill acquisitions.

Commensurate with the values that have guided the Group to date and helped us create a market leading position:-

“We continue to believe that best advice to both consumers and creditors, will build “most trusted advisor” relationships, which will allow us to provide services throughout the lifetime of our customer relationships.”

Launching the platform here today the Tourism and Culture Minister Smt. Ambika Soni said there is no doubt the web based enabled services tourism will strengthen the industry and empower the customers. She said it will facilitate customers to communicate directly with agencies, tour operators, hotels and Bed & Breakfast establishment 24 hours a day.

...

The e-commerce platform has been developed jointly by Ministry of Tourism, and eviivo. The main objective of this platform to facilitate SME (Small and Medium Entrepreneur) to be on Global Network to promote/sale there produce online without any committed investment.

www.incredibleindia.org and technology partner eviivo will now be offering online booking services for a range of accommodation businesses across India, enabling international visitors, currently representing 70% of the site traffic, and domestic visitors to use the new hotel and Bed & Breakfast establishment live availability search on the homepage and complete their transaction in USD or Indian Rupees.

• Read the full article at the Government of India website

The winner of Cricket Star 1 - Sukhvir Singh, son of a bus driver from Shahpur village near Mohali, Punjab, is all set to fly to England on Friday, 1st June, to recieve coaching and training at the Leicestershire County Cricket Club. The 19 year old lad has proved his mettle in the all India cricket talent hunt to earn the coveted opportunity to play with Leicestershire Cricket County for this season. Sukhvir Singh, hailing from a humble background with no opportunity to play professional cricket thanked Cricket Star for a once in a life time opportunity that is changing his life story.

Now, with dreams becoming a reality for this budding cricketer, the rest of India can take a clue from Sukhvir's success and start registering themselves for Cricket Star 2.

Thanks to Cricket Star, runner up Dinesh Salunke, from Mumbai is getting a contract to play for Air India and will also be going to the UK to play Club Cricket.

Kapil Dev, the chief selector of the unique all India talent hunt is highly impressed with the passion and commitment of these budding cricketers and has awarded scholarships to Samandeep Singh and Mohammed Abbas to pursue their cricket dreams. Robin Singh the Director of the Cricket Star Academy has agreed to take the Cricket Star contestants for a coaching sting under his guidance at Chennai.

With Cricket Star 1 becoming a resounding success among the youth across India, the unique cricket talent hunt is open for registration. Participants now can log onto www.cricketstar.tv and submit their entries for Cricket Star 2.

About Cricket Star:
'Cricket Star'-Lakhon Mein Ek!!! is a unique, interactive, multimedia talent hunt for the world's best young cricketer(s) whom the entire country will relate to and feel proud of. Cricket Star's passion, drama and energy has captured the hearts and minds of millions of viewers who have followed the unraveling story on television, across the Internet and through their mobile phones. The winner will win an expenses-paid contract with Leicestershire County Cricket Club (one of 18 professional first class teams in the UK) and attractive cash prizes besides earning an international celebrity status.

About IIC:

Investors in Cricket is an innovative company which specializes in the creation and management of sports rights that have relevance to the Asian sub-continent. IIC was formed by a group of businessmen and entrepreneurs who were convinced that their commercial acumen, can-do attitude and passion for the game could have a positive impact on cricket. Over the past 24 months that conviction has been borne out and IIC has grown rapidly. Its properties now include Cricket Star (the cricket reality TV show), The International 2020 Club Championship (the "Champions League of 2020 Cricket"), and the commercial rights of Leicestershire County Cricket Club.