ModeLabs raises € 4.5 million Paris, Monday September 20, 2004

Modelabs has raised Venture Capital worth € 4.5 million. AXA Private Equity is the leading group in this operation with both AXA Placement Innovation III and AXA Venture Fund IV investing in Modelabs alongside OTC Asset Management.

Modelabs operates within the telecoms sector in France and in Asia and is specialised in the design, development and distribution of products and services for both the fixed and mobile segments.
The Company has developed the concept of “Mobile On Demand™”. This concept involves the use of embedded proprietary software building blocks to rapidly programme and personalise mobile handsets for use with specific mobile services.

Antoine Lacour, Investment Manager with AXA Private Equity’s Venture Capital team: “The telecoms industry is reshaping and needs a new generation of re-active and responsive players like Modelabs that can offer original and innovative mobile services or products to specifically targeted and precise client segments.”

The originality of Modelabs’ positioning derives from its expertise at the different stages of the handset development value chain and from its capacity to bring new solutions to market, rapidly, via its telephone hardware and accessories distribution activity.

Stéphane Bohbot, Chairman of the board of directors at ModeLabs: “Alongside the technological race that is inherent to the mobile market, we give brands the opportunity to satisfy client demand by offering products and services that are better adapted to their clients’ lifestyles”.

Driven by the performance of its distribution activity and the quality of its management, the group is expecting strong growth in 2004, after generating revenue of € 25 million in 2003.
The group plans to use the funds raised to pursue its development and take full advantage of the market opportunities in France and abroad.

About Modelabs

Active in the telecommunications sector since 1996, Modelabs is based in France, Hong Kong and Shanghai and is specialised in the engineering and marketing of combined product / service packages for telecoms operators to help them grow their ARPU.
ModeLabs’ products are marketed under the brand names of handset manufacturers, operators, retail distributors - depending on the target market.
Modelabs is a new generation telecoms player poised to benefit from the convergence and hyper-segmentation of the global telecoms market.

About OTC Innovation

(www.otcam.com)

Founded in 2001 by Tocqueville Finance, OTC Asset Management is an independent management company authorised to operate by the AMF (French market regulatory authority.) It manages collective investment vehicles specialised in unlisted securities within its FCPI OTC Innovation. OTC Asset Management invests in innovative companies with high potential of growth in France and in European Union.

Deal participants

• AXA Private Equity: Antoine Lacour
• OTC Innovation: Xavier Faure
• Investment advisors:
• Legal advisors: Gide Loyrette Nouel (Pierre Karpik, Axelle Toulemonde)
• Financial due diligence: ACT, Deloitte & Touche (Jose Boublil)
• Company advisors:
• Latham & Watkins (Olivier Du Mottay, Emmnanuelle Clidière