LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - Digital marketing company XLMedia is to buy a Canadian credit card comparison website for $9.3m in order to increase its presence in North America and the financial services market.
The AIM-listed company is to buy Greeyrates.ca, the company's first significant publishing assets in the financial services sector, to enhance its presence in North America. The deal also includes additional domains which it also plans to use and develop.

Ory Weihs, chief executive of XLMedia, said: "As a leading credit card comparison site Greedyrates is a household name in Canada and, with its existing footprint and brand recognition, it represents an excellent opportunity for XLMedia to increase its presence in North America and establish a foothold in the financial services market."

The acquisition, which is expected to be earnings enhancing, will be completed in the first quarter of the year and is payable in cash.

Greedyrates will be integrated into the company's proprietary Palcon infrastructure to enable improved day-to-day maintenance and performance.

The company claims that the credit card and payment card markets will continue to grow as purchase transactions by credit cards are projected to have a compound annual growth rate of 4.52% in Canada and 6.36% in the US between 2014 to 2024.

Weihs added: "There is significant opportunity within the financial services sector and we believe this acquisition will be the catalyst to our operations in the sector, which could be a significant future growth engine for the group."

Shares in XLMedia were up 2.74% to 95.55p at 0801 GMT.

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