Tipp24 AG: Staff reduction and changes in the Executive Board

Mar 27, 2009 10:41 AM

Tipp24 AG / Change of Personnel/Strategic Company Decision

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Tipp24 AG: Staff reduction and changes in the Executive Board 

* 139 jobs in Hamburg affected by restrictions of German State Treaty on
Gaming
* Petra von Strombeck and Marcus Geiss to retire from the Executive Board 

(Hamburg, 27 March 2009) Tipp24 AG has decided to scale down its Executive
Board and greatly reduce headcount as a consequence of Germany's new State
Treaty on Gaming. When the second stage of the State Treaty on Gaming came
into force on 1 January, 2009, Tipp24 AG was forced to drastically reduce
its business activities. The members of the Executive Board of Tipp24 AG,
Marcus Geiss and Petra von Strombeck, will retire from the Executive Board
as of 31 March 2009.

On 1 January, Tipp24 AG was forced to discontinue its previous
internet-based brokerage business for participation in games operated by
'Deutscher Lotto- und Totoblock' as a result of prohibitions introduced by
the new gaming legislation. The www.tipp24.com website has since been
operated by Tipp24 Services Ltd., based in London.

Against the same backdrop, Tipp24 AG has taken measures to terminate the
employment contracts of 139 of its 154 staff at the company¹s head office
in Hamburg as quickly as possible. The affected employees will definitely
cease working for Tipp24 AG by 31 March 2009 at the latest.

'We are forced to lay off the majority of our staff as the new State Treaty
on Gaming forbids us from any form of lottery brokerage via the Internet in
Germany. The majority of these jobs will probably be replaced by new ones
abroad - where the restrictions do not apply,' says Jens Schumann, Chairman
of the Executive Board of Tipp24 AG. 'At the same time as the German state
is spending billions to save German jobs, it is also destroying the jobs of
a healthy, mid-size company with a law which contravenes EU legislation.
Moreover, Tipp24 AG transferred around EUR 130 million in tax revenues to
the federal states last year alone. This money will now no longer be
available to the state.'

15 employees will remain at Tipp24 AG for administrative activities on
behalf of the Group's parent company. Jobs at Tipp24 Entertainment GmbH are
not affected by the State Treaty on Gaming and will thus be maintained.

The background to the State Treaty on Gaming is the fight against gambling
addiction. The legislation forbids the online marketing and advertising of
lotteries. There have been no scientific studies to date, however, which
prove such a sociologically relevant 'lottery addiction'. 'It seems more
likely that the state treaty is designed to eliminate private companies
under the pretext of preventing addiction,' states Schumann. 'After all,
controlling addiction would be much more effective via the Internet than at
the lottery kiosk. We will therefore continue to take legal action against
the new state treaty.'

About Tipp24 AG: Until the end of 2008, Tipp24 AG brokered state-licensed
gaming products via electronic media, and in particular via the Internet at
its website www.tipp24.de. Due to the German State Treaty on Gaming
introduced on 1 January 2008, the company has temporarily discontinued this
activity until the legal situation has been settled. Since this time,
Tipp24 AG has been operating in particular the gaming platform
www.tipp24games.de. The Group's subsidiaries are Ventura24 in Spain
(www.ventura24.es), Puntogioco24 (www.puntogioco24.it) in Italy and
MyLotto24 (www.mylotto24.co.uk) in the UK. Shares in Tipp24 AG have been
traded at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 2005.

Tipp24 AG       
Andrea Fratini       
Head of Media and Public Relations    
Tel.: +49 40 32 55 33-660     
E-mail: presse@tipp24.de     
Internet: www.tipp24.de/presse/ 



27.03.2009  Financial News transmitted by DGAP
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Language:     English
Issuer:       Tipp24 AG
              Straßenbahnring 11-13
              20251 Hamburg
              Deutschland
Phone:        +49 (0)40 325533-0
Fax:          +49 (0)40 325533-77
E-mail:       office@tipp24.de
Internet:     www.tipp24-ag.de
ISIN:         DE0007847147
WKN:          784714
Listed:       Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr
              in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München, Stuttgart
 
End of News                                     DGAP News-Service
 
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