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Snakk sets up shop in NZ, may scale back shares plan

Snakk Media (which listed on the New Zealand Alternative Stock Exchange back in March) has opened a New Zealand sales office, to be run by former APN group sales manager Rowan Spinks.

The Auckland office is the first for the company outside of Australia where it currently makes the majority of its money.

Snakk sells mobile advertising, clipping the ticket on both the advertiser and publisher ends. Chief executive Mark Ryan says New Zealand’s online ad spend growth in recent years has warranted more attention from the tech company, hence the feet on the ground.

According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, online ad spend hit a new high of $363 million in 2012 – a nine percent growth from the previous year. Mobile advertising alone grew by 176 percent.

“We saw a good year-on-year increase in mobile advertising revenue in the last quarter of 2012, and the time is right for Snakk to have a larger presence in New Zealand. This country is also a fantastic place to trial and pilot new initiatives and technologies, and we have some really exciting plans in the works for this,” says Ryan.

The New Zealand market is so attractive competitor InMobi (an India-based major player in the mobile ad industry) has partnered with Fairfax Media NZ to provide its publications with mobile ad spots.

Snakk founder Derek Handley says the company may need to scale back shareholder applications for its share purchase plan (SPP) due to “healthy demand”. Depending on the final amount Snakk receives through the SPP, the board will decide whether to take the full amount or a lesser amount. According to a previous statement to the NSX, Snakk says it’s aiming to raise $2 million through the sale of ordinary shares.

Registered shareholders have until 5pm Tuesday May 21 to invest a maximum of $15,000 in Snakk shares (at 12c per share). Snakk is currently trading for 16.5c per share.

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