Noel Edmonds signs deal with Toad
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Your support makes all the difference.An unlikely alliance between Noel Edmonds, the former disc jockey, and Chris Evans, the Welsh biotechnology entrepreneur (rather than the other former disc jockey), was sealed yesterday with the ambitious aim of bringing the virtues of the in-car office and other hi-tech gizmos for drivers to nearly a third of the population.
In a deal worth up to pounds 600,000 in shares, Mr Edmonds, now better known for his televised House Party at Crinkly Bottom, will spearhead a campaign to raise the awareness of Mr Evans' Toad group, a maker of car security products which saw its shares crash in February after the sudden departure of its chief executive, Charles Parker.
Mr Edmonds' Unique Group, which takes in his broadcasting to marketing interests, is selling the Challenge Technology Partnership, a consultancy operation, to Toad. Challenge claims to have signed up several big car companies to develop hi-tech products such as an external camera to deter perpetrators of road rage attacks and an in-car video conferencing system.
Unique will receive an initial payment of 500,000 shares, valued at pounds 205,000 at Toad's share price of 41p, up 1.5p yesterday, payable from Mr Evans' personal 20 per cent stake in the group.
But, according to him, the real potential of the deal lies in the earn- out provisions. Up to 1 million more new shares, worth pounds 410,000, are payable if Mr Edmond's "extensive" media and car industry contacts result in at least 30 per cent of the UK population becoming aware of the Toad brand over the next two years and certain share price targets, up to a maximum of 240p, are met.
Mr Evans said: "If he can achieve 30 per cent, that is potentially 8.5 million car drivers who are well versed in Toad products ...We couldn't handle 8.5 million customers, but 1 per cent or 80,000 would represent tens of millions [of pounds] in sales."
Mr Edmonds will be personally promoting Toad products at motor shows and the company would be "popping up in lots of high profile places," Mr Evans said.
This was all part of the Toad chairman's commitment after February's "blip" to "really put this company back on the fast track" over the next 12 months.
The link up with Mr Edmonds had already won new accounts with big fleet users, he said, and it would now result in an acceleration of the launch of Toad's new Actra car-locating system, previously scheduled for the end of next year.
He reiterated that the company was on course for profitability next year.
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