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Akazoo SA (NASDAQ: SONG) (“SONG” or “Company”) today announced the successful completion of the previously announced merger of Akazoo Ltd. with Modern Media Acquisition Corp., previously traded under the ticker MMDM. Akazoo plans to start trading today on the Nasdaq stock market under the ticker symbol “SONG”, after raising approximately $ 55 million in the new capital.
The combined company, Akazoo SA, is a leading global music streaming platform and technology company with a strong international market position focused on emerging markets. The management of Akazoo Ltd. and its shareholders transferred their equity into $ 380 million ordinary shares of the Combined Company. In addition, the parties raised new capital of approximately $ 55 million to fund the Company’s growth initiatives and for general corporate purposes.
Akazoo SA, SONG, operates in 25 countries including emerging markets which represent the fastest growing market opportunities in the music streaming industry. Akazoo’s platform features patented Sonic AI music recommendation and profiling technology, developed to support its hyper-local strategy.
Over the past 5 years, SONG’s premium subscribers have grown from 1.1 million in 2014 to over 5.3 million today. In the first half of 2019, the Company’s revenues increased by 39% year-on-year. Growth is expected to be driven by a range of existing and new partnerships that include mobile operators, phone manufacturers, mobile media and partner applications and services, as well as growth in smartphone penetration in their core markets.
The founder and CEO of Akazoo Ltd., Apostolos N. Zervos, will continue as founder and CEO of the merged company, Akazoo SA “We are delighted to complete this transaction and to transition to public company status and to welcome our new shareholders. With the support of strong strategic partners, favorable industry trends and a debt-free balance sheet, we are poised to accelerate our organic growth, further develop our Sonic AI technology, and launch very innovative growth initiatives. In addition, our new public currency will allow us to grow through valuable acquisitions and consolidations in the industry, ”said Zervos.
Lew dickey, who will serve as Chairman of the Combined Entity, said, “Akazoo has created a high-growth global digital music streaming platform that is well positioned to benefit from the secular changes underway in the media industry. Its strong presence in emerging markets provides a foundation for sustained revenue and earnings growth and our strong balance sheet will be used to fund many growth initiatives. “
Akazoo SA, SONG, also today announced the members of the board of directors of the combined company which includes leaders in technology, media, transportation and fintech.
Lew Dickey is currently President and CEO of Modern Media. In 1997 Lew co-founded Cumulus Media and made it America’s second largest radio company, serving as Chairman and CEO for 16 years. He is also president of Modern Luxury, the largest regional publishing house in the country. Lew holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Stanford and an MBA from Harvard.
Apostolos N. Zervos is currently Founder and CEO of Akazoo, which he founded as a music streaming service in 2010. He has over 15 years of experience in managing, creating and scaling consumer propositions innovative and disruptive technologies in new media organically and through mergers and acquisitions. As an executive and entrepreneur, he pioneered and launched some of the first global mobile proposals for Fortune 500 companies and the world’s largest brands and grew Akazoo to over $ 100 million in income. Apostolos N. Zervos got his BA from Yale University, in 2002.
Maja Lapcevic is Senior Vice President of Mastercard Labs and leads Mastercard Lab’s global innovation programs. Prior to joining Mastercard, Maja held several positions at Citi Ventures including Senior Vice President, Venture Investments and Director of Strategic Growth, focusing on the areas of Commercial Payments, FinTech and Market Technology. . Lapcevic holds a BA in Government from Georgetown University.
Athan Stephanopoulos is President of NowThis, the leading digital media brand that produces and distributes video information for mobile and social audiences. Today, NowThis is the biggest source of information for millennials in the world (according to Tubular Labs). Previously, Stephanopoulos was the founder and CEO of Cliptamatic, a social video distribution platform that was acquired by NowThis in 2014.
David Roche is currently Executive Chairman of GoHenry Ltd., a privately funded fintech company and former Chairman of Hotels.com and Expedia Lodging Partner Service, Expedia Inc, where he developed the global expansion of Hotels.com for 10 years. He is also president of Guestline, a software company operating in the hotel industry. He is an experienced angel investor in the European tech space and holds an MBA from INSEAD.
Alexandre macridis is currently Chairman and CEO of Chryssafidis SA, an industrial equipment distribution company operating in South Eastern Europe, member of the board of directors of Aegean Airlines, general secretary of SEV, of the Hellenic Federation of Industries and member of Yale University President’s advice on international activities. In his previous roles, Macridis was at Goldman Sachs & Co., in mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. Macridis holds a BA and a JD in law Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Panagiotis Dimitropoulos has been a non-executive director of Akazoo Limited since 2015. Mr. Dimitropoulos founded InternetQ Group Ltd in 2000 and has been its Managing Director since November 1, 2012. Mr. Dimitropoulos is considered a pioneer in the value-added mobile services industry and has built InternetQ into a company with international presence and operations. He completed his university studies in law at the Athens University and obtained an MBA from ALBA.
To learn more about Akazoo, visit www.akazoo.com
