Difference Capital Announces Follow-on Competitive Gaming Investment in Virgin Gaming


TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Sept. 25, 2013) - Difference Capital Financial Inc. (TSX VENTURE:DCF) ("DCF"), a leading specialty financial services company, is pleased to announce its additional $5 million investment in the form of convertible unsecured debentures in Virgin Gaming, a leading company in the competitive gaming space.

The debentures mature on September 30, 2016, bear interest at a rate of 10% per annum and are convertible into common shares of Virgin Gaming at a conversion price of $1.10 per share. Currently, DCF owns approximately 26.7 million shares of Virgin Gaming on a fully diluted basis, representing approximately 18% of the company. In conjunction with this investment, Neil Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of DCF, was appointed to the Board of Directors of Virgin Gaming.

Virgin Gaming intends to use the proceeds to fund on going working capital requirements as it continues to develop and deliver innovative services on its proprietary platform, including:

  • 'Virgin Gaming Premium', a monthly paid membership service that will offer members private "friend leagues", stats-based leaderboards, strategy lessons and exclusive partner benefits;
  • Full control of competitive game play from a mobile device, to extend the ways to interact with the service seamlessly to complement the "Xbox Tournaments" app on the Xbox 360 and the virgingaming.com site;
  • The ability to provide competitive game play for mobile gamers, extending the platform's capabilities to iOS and Android devices.

The Virgin Gaming Premium service, launching in October, is intended to bridge the gap between fantasy sports and video games where gamers can up the ante by customizing their own private leagues that provide flexibility in a secure environment. Virgin Gaming is also expected to be guaranteeing cash and other prizes for daily, weekly and monthly tournaments encouraging video game players to keep playing regardless of skill level.

"Virgin Gaming's new features transform competitive gaming into the mainstream," said Neil Johnson. "The ability to play against your friends in your own private league appeals to the majority of players. Additionally, the move into mobile gaming exponentially broadens the number of potential gamers on their network. Our continued participation supports Virgin Gaming as it enters the next phase of growth."

Rob Segal, Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Gaming said, "We are thrilled to be furthering our partnership with DCF, and appreciate the ongoing confidence they continue to show in Virgin Gaming. We are entering into an exciting era, with the introduction of never before seen product features, exclusive offerings and new partnerships to enhance the experience for our growing gamer community. We've recently surpassed over 2.7 million registered members, $30 million in winnings and 19 million challenges issued on Virgin Gaming."

About Difference Capital Financial Inc.

Difference Capital Financial Inc. is a publicly-listed, Toronto-based specialty finance company focused on creating shareholder value through strategic investments in, and advisory services for, growth companies, particularly in the technology, media and healthcare sectors, as well as through opportunistic investments in undervalued financial assets and real property.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) has in any way passed upon the merits of the proposed transactions and neither of the foregoing entities has approved or disapproved of the contents of this press release.

About Virgin Gaming

Virgin Gaming is an online service that facilitates tournaments, leagues and ladders for the Xbox 360® and PlayStation®3 video game consoles. Backed by Sir Richard Branson's world renowned Virgin brand, Virgin Gaming acts as a social gaming community for competitive gamers to interact with one another and with brands targeting the gamer demographic. Its leading proprietary platform connects to live game data directly from the servers of its game publisher partners to provide real-time results and feedback to its members. VIRGIN and the Virgin Signature logo are trademarks of Virgin Enterprises Limited and are used under license. For more information on Virgin Gaming please visit www.virgingaming.com.

Cautionary Notes

This release includes forward-looking statements regarding DCF and its business. Such statements are based on the current expectations and views of future events of DCF's management. In some cases the forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as "may", "will", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "intend", "potential", "estimate", "believe" or the negative of these terms, or other similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release and the anticipated growth of the Virgin Gaming's business may not occur and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting the Virgin Gaming, including risks regarding implementing the objectives and initiatives referred to above, market take-up of the initiatives referred to above, and many other factors beyond the control of DCF. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements and information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statement or information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements or information. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and DCF undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contact Information:

Difference Capital Financial Inc.
Neil Johnson
Chief Executive Officer
416 649 5088
www.differencecapital.com