news and press

13/11/2008 5th November 2008 Essentially Group has entered into...

Essentially Group has entered into a joint venture with the Fast Moving Signage Company Limited. more

10/11/2008 Acquisition of rugby player management business in South Africa

Essentially Group Limited today announces that it has acquired the management contracts and management team of 40 South African rugby players. more

04/11/2008 Masters Appoints Essentially Group as Exclusive Commercial Marketing Agency

Essentially Group Limited today announces that it has been appointed by Masters Historic Racing (Masters) on an exclusive basis, to develop its commercial strategy and sponsorship opportunities. more

29/10/2008 "The Sun" reports Essentially''s acquisition of Arundel

Sun City 3rd September 2008 more

29/10/2008 International Rugby Board (IRB) extends Essentially event management contract for a further 4 years

Essentially has had its event management contract for the prestigious IRB Awards extended until 2012. more

29/10/2008 Essentially Group acquires Arundel Promotions Limited

Essentially Group Limited has acquired Arundel Promotions Limited, one of the leading cricket and football sports personality and event management businesses in the UK. more

20/10/2008 Essentially Australia – Adam Cooney

Essentially Australia is proud to announce that Adam Cooney has taken out the Australian Football Leagues most prestigious award for 2008: The Brownlow Medal. more

06/10/2008 Red Hot Penny Shares – October 2008 article

"[Essentially’s] record so far bodes well and with the shares on such a low rating I rate them as a buy." more

30/09/2008 IRB Awards Press Release

2008 sees the IRB Awards Ceremony returning to London... the highlight of the rugby calendar. This year tables are available for sale... more

25/09/2008 Essentially client Dan Carter touches down in Perpignan

Link to French language video news report. more

02/09/2008 Essentially acquires Arundel Promotions Limited

Essentially Group Limited ("Essentially" or the "Group"), the AIM listed full service sports marketing, media, management and professional services Group, today announces that it has acquired Arundel Promotions Limited ("Arundel"), one of the leading cricket and football sports’ personality and event management businesses in the UK. more

21/08/2008 Captain''s Christmas Lunch

Following the success of last year’s Sportsman’s lunch featuring Alec Stewart and Jason Leonard, Arundel Promotions, which is now a part of Essentially Group, are busy planning this year’s event and would like you to note this event in your diary as one that is not to be missed... more

11/08/2008 Essentially Group''s delight at Nicole Cooke''s Gold

Essentially Group Ltd (AIM: ESN.L), the full service sports marketing agency is please to announce that its long term client Nicole Cooke kicked off Great Britian’s medal haul on Sunday by taking the 200th GB Gold medal in a rain soaked Women’s road race in Beijing. Cooke is managed by the Essentially Group Management Division alongside clients such as New Zealand Rugby Union star Dan Carter. more

12/05/2008 Invesco Perpetual Appointed IRB Junior World Championship 2008 Principal Partner

The International Rugby Board and Welsh Rugby Union have announced the appointment of leading fund management firm Invesco Perpetual as principal partner of the inaugural IRB Junior World Championship in Wales from June 6-22. more

08/04/2008 The Professional Jockeys Association Appoint Essentially

The Professional Jockeys Association (PJA) announces the appointment of Essentially as exclusive sponsorship agency. more

11/02/2008 11/02/08 Essentially benefits from IPL and change in the Idian cricket market

23/01/2008 23/01/08 Sponsorship deal for ING Renault F1 team gauteng provincial government contract

Essentially Group Ltd (AIM: ESN.L), the full service sports marketing agency, is pleased to announce that it has brokered a partnership (the "partnership") between the ING Renault F1 Team, a high profile client of Essentially,and the Gauteng Provincial Government ("Gauteng"), South Africa’s largest province incorporating Johannesburg and Pretoria. more

07/01/2008 Essentially Group Welcomes Macarenhas and Finn

Essentially Group is pleased to welcome on board Dimitri Mascarenhas and Steve Finn as clients of the athlete Management division. more

07/01/2008 Canadian Tourism Commission announces official partnership with Cirque du Soleil

The Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC), has announced that it will partner with Cirque du Soleil’s™ newest show Varekai™, premiering at London’s Royal Albert Hall this Tuesday, the 8th January, 2008. more

20/11/2007 HSBC to be Principal Partner to British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa in 2009

HSBC will be the Principal Partner to the British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa in 2009; it was formally announced at a function at HSBC’s global headquarters in Canary Wharf, London today. more

14/11/2007 Cockspur Rum

Cockspur Rum to become Official Spirit of English Test Match Grounds and extend Cockspur Cup sponsorship with ECB more

21/09/2007 Frontiers Group announce National Trust and Yorkshire Bank sponsorship agreement

Frontiers Group have announced that Yorkshire Bank has been unveiled as the National Trust’s ’Outdoor Programme’ sponsor, supportingEurope’s largest conservation charity by funding environmental initiatives and projects in its gardens. more

07/09/2007 Rugby World Cup

Essentially Group’s Accelerate subsidiary is managing the Rugby Town facility under the Eiffel Tower in Paris. more

05/04/2007 Jockey Sponsorship deal for Dan Carter

Essentially, the AIM listed full service sports marketing and media group, announces that its wholly owned subsidiary Global Sports Management ("GSM") has negotiated a major new sponsorship deal with more

05/02/2007 Motorsport Business Restructuring

Essentially Group, the AIM listed provider of sports marketing, management and television production services, today announces the restructuring of its motorsport business that includes a name change and the appointment of a Chief Executive Officer. more

18/01/2007 Accelerate to advise Lions

Essentially Group, the AIM listed provider of sports marketing, management and television production services, announces that its wholly owned subsidiary Accelerate Sport and Music has been appointed as exclusive broker and manager to represent the commercial interests of the British and Irish Lions ("the Lions") on their forthcoming tour to South Africa in 2009. more

11/02/08 Essentially benefits from IPL and change in the Idian cricket market

Essentially Group (RIC: ESN), the AIM-listed provider of sports marketing, management and media services, through Athletes 1 Group, part of its athletes management division, with offices in London, Mumbai and Melbourne, is pleased to announce the signing of 14 of the 50 players to the BCCI controlled Indian Premier League 20/20 cricket competition for 2008 and beyond. This coupled with the ongoing representation of Anil Kumble, India’s high profile captain, marks Essentially’s focussed strategy of increasing the Group’s presence in the business of Indian cricket, by far the single largest and most lucrative market in the cricketing world.

The Indian Premier League

The Group has recently placed 14 out of the 50 foreign players on 3 year contracts in the forthcoming high profile Indian Premier League ("IPL") 20/20 tournament due to start in India in March 2008. The 8 team tournament has been underpinned by a 10 year television deal with Sony TV, at a reported value of $1billion USD. Clients whose contracts Essentially negotiated to play, include leading international cricket stars Herschelle Gibbs, Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher (South Africa), Scott Styris and Daniel Vettori (New Zealand), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies), Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka), Justin Langer (Australia) and Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan). Essentially has initial committed revenues in excess of seven figures in USD over the initial three year term. These figures will be further enhanced as the recently awarded franchises bid for the services of the players beyond the initial IPL basic retainer contracted in 2007. The awarding of the franchises raised a further reported $720m USD, with individual franchise prices ranging from $111m to $67m USD per team. The additional franchise specific contracts will be negotiated in the next ten days as the franchises vie for the services of the players.

Captain Fantastic

Anil Kumble is regarded as India’s greatest spinner of all time - not only in terms of wickets but also by being a member of the winning team on more occasions than any other bowler in the history of Indian cricket. Having recorded 600 wickets in 125 test matches, and 337 wickets in 271 one day international matches, Kumble is regarded as the one of the most prolific cricketers in the world. Athletes 1 India will continue to manage all media and endorsement rights for Kumble worldwide. His success as captain with recent test wins over Pakistan and Australia will enhance his commercial appeal. Successful contracts negotiated by Essentially with ING Vysya and Manipal Education endorse his growing appeal.

Commenting on the progress made in the Indian cricket market, Bart Campbell, CEO of Essentially said:

"The great pace of change and development of cricket within the Indian market has provided significant new opportunities for Essentially to capitalise on, all of which have been realised at an organic level. By providing 30% of the total market of the worlds best non-Indian players to the IPL we have demonstrated the reach of our cricket business. We are now actively seeking to use the foothold we have achieved to offer our full range of services to the successful franchise winners. The BCCI has taken the first step towards the wholesale commercialisation of the game and we are uniquely placed as a Group, with unrivalled expertise in cricket, to assist.

Our penetration into this exciting market has enhanced the visibility of earnings for our athlete management division following our successful involvement in the IPL 20/20 tournament starting in India shortly. It will further stimulate opportunities at a wider level for the Group. These initiatives place Essentially Group at the heart of the growth of the business of cricket in India and will have a positive impact on our 2008 and beyond numbers".

For further information please contact:

Essentially Group Ltd.	Tel: +44 (0)20 7820 7000
John Byfield / Bart Campbell
Buchanan Communications	Tel +44 (0) 207 466 5000
Bobby Morse / Susanna Gale / Christian Goodbody

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