The Board of Easydate plc, the internet-based dating operator, today announces the publication of its Admission Document relating to the intended admission of its ordinary shares to the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday, 30 June 2010 and Thursday, 1 July 2010 under the symbol EZD.

Established in 2005, Easydate is one of the UK's leading internet-based dating operators providing dating services through several successful and complementary websites in the United Kingdom and overseas.

The Company is raising £10 million through the placing of 16,666,667 new Ordinary Shares and, pursuant to the placing, 8,333,333 existing Ordinary Shares and Option Shares are being sold. In total, 33.31% of the Enlarged Issued Share Capital of the Company is being placed and, the approximate market capitalisation of the Company at admission will be £45 million.

Cenkos Securities plc, through its Edinburgh office, is acting as Nominated Adviser and broker to the Company.

Through its growing network of websites, Easydate Group has built a base of over 13 million registrants and over 9 million members in 29 countries (those countries with over 1,000 members), with a growing proportion of members coming from outside of the United Kingdom. It offers a wide variety of online dating services allowing members to interact with each other and access the content available on the Group's websites. These websites are intended to appeal to dating users of diverse ages, cultures and social interest groups. The Group's most heavily visited websites include www.benaughty.com, www.cupid.com, www.girlsdateforfree.com and www.datetheuk.com. The Group also promotes the niche brands www.datingforparents.com, www.speeddater.com and www.maturedating.co.uk.

Easydate Group's goal, as one of the UK's leading internet-based dating operators, is to increase revenues whilst improving overall profitability. Founders Bill Dobbie and Max Polyakov have a strong track record in creating successful, innovative technology products. This experience has been utilised to establish the technology platform of the Group, which helps the business to deliver its products and drive increasing volumes of web traffic to its websites. The Directors believe this assists the business increase the number of subscribers and its marketing knowledge of the demographics and interests of its users. The Directors' believe the Group's strategy in operating and expanding its websites and cross-selling and marketing these to its network of users provides brand and marketing leverage, increases awareness and familiarity within the Group's target audience and wider on-line community, all of which the Directors believe are key to driving the Group's successful expansion.

The Directors plan to maintain and extend the Group's position as one of the UK's leading providers of internet-based dating services by pursing the following growth strategies:

• Introduce new sites to the UK and to expand internationally
• Maximise existing UK growth by encouraging visitors, registrants and members to become subscribers
• Continue to develop outsourcing and ancillary revenues
• Continue to increase our affiliate marketing network
• Accelerate presence and growth in foreign markets
• Acquisitions

The Directors believe that the Group's core strengths lie in its:

• User base: The Group's websites are significantly sized in the UK on-line marketplace, currently adding on average more than 300,000 new registrants and more than 200,000 new members each month. The Board believes that the Group's large established user base represents a significant advantage over new market entrants in the UK.
• Large affiliate network: The substantial number of registrants in Easydate's marketing affiliate program allows the Group to market its brands beyond its established users by collaborating with other organisations which market the Group's services on their own websites. The Directors believe that the scale of the network reduces the Group's dependence on 'paid for' search results and also provides an advantage over competitors.
• Innovative and scalable technology platform: The Easydate business has developed a robust, highly scalable technology platform over the last five years that allows Easydate to add new features and launch additional websites at a relatively low incremental cost and without significant capital expenditure. The Group's in-house Ukrainian-based technical and on-line marketing team provides the Group with a highly skilled, lower cost base which the Directors believe offers a medium term competitive cost advantage.
• Effective, capable and internationally-oriented management team: Easydate's management team has developed internally as the business has grown and has expanded its capabilities in line with the Group's growth. The business has a track record of developing and retaining key staff. The Directors will seek to develop the management team commensurate with the growing requirements of the business, particularly as the Group expands in overseas marketplaces.

The worldwide market for dating services is estimated by the Directors to be in excess of US$1 billion and growing in the established US market at approximately 3 per cent., in the UK at between 6 per cent. and 10 per cent. with emerging markets growing at a far higher rate. The Directors believe that this growth is being driven by wider usage of dating and social networking applications and increased access to the internet, in particular by using broadband connection and via mobile phones. In addition, the increasing number of one-person households and divorcees also contributes to the rise in interest in online dating. On-line dating is cost effective and convenient in comparison to more traditional methods of dating such as introduction agencies. An increasing number of individuals subscribed to online dating websites despite the recent recession in the UK. The Directors believe that this was due to a combination of the low subscription costs and individuals wishing to seek a relationship in difficult times. Whilst, in the Directors' opinion, there is increasing social acceptance in many geographical and demographic markets of online dating, the worldwide market outside the USA is currently at an earlier stage in its development. With the exception of a few large participants, the online dating market is largely fragmented, currently comprising many small private operators.

The Directors consider that Admission will be an important step in the Group's development, will enhance its standing within its market place and will assist the growth in its business. In particular it will enable the Company, if required, to raise additional capital to support its strategic objectives as suitable opportunities arise. It is also expected to provide liquidity for investors through the ability to buy and sell Ordinary Shares, will provide a more diversified shareholder base and allow the existing Shareholders to realise part of their investment through the disposal of the Sale Shares as part of the Placing.

The Directors believe that Admission will also provide opportunities for the Group to attract, retain and incentivise high calibre employees through the operation of Share Option Schemes and allow employees to participate in the future success of the Group.

The Placing of the New Ordinary Shares will raise up to approximately £8.8 million (net of expenses) for the Company. The Directors believe that a solid platform for growth has been achieved, and that the funds available to the Company from the Placing will enable the Group to continue to grow and to take advantage of new opportunities as they arise. In particular, the net proceeds of the Placing available to the Company, together with the Group's existing cash resources, will be utilised principally to fund:

• an acceleration in the Group's acquisition programme;
• the roll out of dating websites in commercially attractive foreign territories; and
• the development and launch of new niche websites.

The Company will use the remaining balance of the net proceeds of the Placing available to it for general working capital purposes. The strengthening of the Group's balance sheet with the proceeds of the Placing available to it will also enable the Group to consider gearing, if appropriate.

Commenting, Bill Dobbie, Chief Executive of Easydate, said:
"We believe that there is a considerable opportunity for Easydate to become a leading global player in the online-dating market. We believe the Company's admission to AIM will provide us with a platform to achieve this."

Copies of the Admission Document are available from Cenkos Securities plc prior to Admission and on www.easydategroup.com from Admission.

Even Cheryl has embraced the digital wave ending her three year marriage with Chelsea footballer, Ashley via text message.

DateTheUk, one of the UK's largest independent dating companies, asked 2000 people (equal male female split) whose relationships had ended in the last year, how things had finished.

• 34% said their relationship had finished by email
• 13% said they had changed their status on Facebook, without telling their partner
• 6% had released the news on Twitter, without telling their partner
• 2% had used mobile phone text
• Less than 1% had finished things in a chat room

The remainder of people asked had split up "the old fashioned way" by face to face conversation (38%) and telephone (8%).

Sean Wood, Marketing Manager for DateTheUk said: "Digital Dumping will soon take over when it comes to ending a relationship. It's often easier, quicker and avoids any misunderstandings."

Analysis of its customer database by one of the country's leading online dating sites benaughty.com shows that out of the many thousands who use the popular matchmaking site, those looking for affairs are more likely to live in Belfast (a total of 26% of all of that city's users).

Londoners were the least likely to be searching for a fling (17%).

Said Sean Wood, partnership manager for benaughty: "There is a delicious irony to the figures, given what Mrs Robinson has been up to, but it was a big surprise nonetheless. Obviously Belfast is taking her to its heart once more.

"Just as interesting is that Londoners are the least likely to be looking for that extra someone in their lives. Perhaps because it's a bit tougher living in London and people are holding on to what they have got...for the time being. I think that relatively low figure for people seeking affairs will change as we move further out of recession, and people are less nervous."

The full list of how likely people throughout the UK are to engage in affairs outside their relationship is:

According to one of the UK's leading internet dating sites, benaughty.com, men wanting "discreet relationships" (aka meeting people other than their partner for dates and sex) dropped by 41.8%* after the Tiger Woods story hit the media.

Numbers continued to decline throughout the week it was revealed Woods may have slept with up to 13 women during his marriage to a total drop of 47.5%**.

While new membership numbers for the popular dating site increased over this period, the downward trend in those looking for affairs continued with women as well. The number wanting discreet relationships over this period fell 19.7%***, according to the online data, which looked at dating trends of more than 25,000 users of benaughty.com.

Sean Wood, Partnership Manager of benaughty.com, said: "I have never seen anything have such a profound impact on people's dating behaviour as the Tiger Woods story. The reduction in the numbers of people looking for dates and sex outside their relationship correlates exactly with the revelations about his off-the-course activities.

"Given time, I am sure that, the figures will return to where they were, but it would appear there are fewer people wanting to play away from home this Christmas all thanks to Tiger."