VET Verdant

RNS Number:0776Z
Virtual Internet PLC
19 February 2001

Date: Monday 19 February 2001

Enquiries:

Jason Drummond, CEO

Virtual Internet plc                         Tel: 0207 460 4060

David Bick, Holborn Public Relations         Tel: 020 7929 5599


                             Virtual Internet plc

  Virtual Internet acquires one of the leading hosting companies in Germany

      Acquisition of WebControl Gmbh for up to #885,953(2.75DM million)


Virtual Internet plc, a leading provider of Internet hosting, naming and
online brand management services for businesses internationally announces the
acquisition of the entire issued share capital of WebControl Gmbh, one of
Germany's leading hosting companies.


The total consideration of up to #885,953 (2.75 DMmillion) is to be satisfied
by the payment of #644,329 (2DM million) in cash and the balance in ordinary
shares.  The vendors, Michael Weichselgartner and Thorsten Stute will continue
to work for the company and  have agreed not to dispose of any consideration
shares for 12 months.



WebControl Gmbh (www.webcontrol.de), based in Hattingen near Dusseldorf,
Germany provides hosting and name registration and is currently in the top
three hosting companies in that market for quality and service (according to
independent research by webhostlist.de).  The company was founded in February
1999 and currently manages nearly 4,000 active hosted and managed domains.



The acquisition will extend Virtual Internet's pan-european network to the key
European markets of the UK, France, Germany and Italy.



Jason Drummond, Chief Executive of Virtual Internet, said:


"Germany is one of the largest markets in Europe and the demand for web
hosting services, particularly to the SME market, is growing rapidly.  This is
an important part of our European network and WebControl has built a very
strong reputation for quality and service.  WebControl will benefit from our
established infrastructure for web hosting in Europe and provides Virtual
Internet with an established foothold in one of Europe's most important
markets".



Michael Weichselgartner, Managing Director of WebControl, said:


"We are delighted to be in a position to build on WebControl's quality
reputation and excellent customer base in the rapidly growing German
marketplace by becoming part of Virtual Internet's European network.  The
combination of professional services and quality hosting established in
Germany by the acquisition will enable us to stand out clearly in the market."


About Virtual Internet plc


Virtual Internet plc (LSE: VET) is a leading provider of Internet hosting,
naming and online brand management services for businesses worldwide. Virtual
Internet established its London HQ in 1996 and has grown rapidly, opening
further offices in Paris, New York, and Milan and now Germany.

Virtual Internet currently hosts services on over 85,000 domains and provides
one of the fastest web hosting solutions in the UK (according to independent
performance testing published in Internet magazine). Virtual Internet's
business customer base includes many corporate accounts including over half the
FTSE 100.

Hosting Services
Virtual Internet provides domain name registration, web site hosting, e-mail
services, e-commerce solutions, application server hosting (ASP) and dedicated
server management.

Corporate Services
Net Searchers International Limited provides internet brand and trade mark
protection services, enabling customers to protect their trademarks, brands and
intellectual property on the Internet. Services include worldwide domain
registrations for particular brand or company names and brand monitoring on the
Internet marketed under the Net Searchers brand (see www.netsearchers.com).

Domain name services
Virtual Internet recently announced the acquisition of ShoutLoud.com, Europe's
largest re-seller of domain names. (See www.shoutloud.com) and operates
nomodo.com, a sophisticated, low-cost portal enabling domain name registration
service(www.nomodo.com)

Virtual Internet's joint venture application with Register.com for the new Top
Level Domain for professionals ".PRO" was  selected by ICANN as one of only 7
new Top Level Domains. The joint venture company will run the ".PRO" registry
under the name RegistryPRO (www.registrypro.com)

In April 2000, Virtual Internet completed a $50 million fundraising and moved
from AIM to the Official List of the London Stock Exchange.

About WebControl


WebControl was founded in1999 out of a merger between Pernsoft and

WebControl LLC. With more than 5 years experience in shared and

dedicated webhosting WebControl has became one of the leading technical

ISPs in Germany and is a well-known specialist for Microsoft Windows NT

Applications.

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