WOWIO to Name Robert Estareja New CEO
Executive with M&A background to lead company’s growth via acquisition strategy
BEVERLY HILLS, CA, September 15, 2015 - Wowio, Inc. (OTCBB:WWIO), a digital media company announced today that Robert Estareja will take over the role of Chief Executive Officer of the company, replacing Brian Altounian after more than 6 years at its helm, effective immediately. Mr. Estareja has been involved with Wowio for over a year, initially as a consultant and then as its President over the past 10 months. His experience in mergers and acquisitions will be specifically useful as the company pursues its “growth through acquisition” strategy it outlined for investors 6 months ago.
“Robert is highly skilled at developing acquisition programs to increase revenue and build assets,” said Altounian, who will remain Chairman of its Board of Directors for now but is stepping down from the executive role to pursue other entrepreneurial and charitable interests outside of the Company. “His success comes from being professional and intuitive with the goal of "adding value" to his clients. Being an effective negotiator and closer has accomplished several financial goals for his previous clientele.”
Prior to joining Wowio, Mr. Estareja spent 15 years an advisor to a diversified, international investment management group with over $13 billion in assets under management, where he spearheaded the group's technology investments, strategic relationships and corporate development activities. He provided additional advisory services to a REIT that has over $3 billion in assets; a financial services company that grew from $6MM in revenues to over $90MM through an aggressive merger and acquisition strategy that he initiated and implemented; a diversified insurance enterprise with over $1.5 billion in assets where he was engaged to increase revenues and build assets through mergers & acquisitions; and a European private equity group where he managed the investment for a food concept that rolled out in Miami, Florida.
“I am excited about taking on this role at this particular time in company’s life,” said Mr. Estareja. “Brian and I had defined a strategy to grow the company through transformative acquisitions and alliances, adding revenues to our P&L and assets to our balance sheet. At the end of the day, we continue to pursue a path to try to increase shareholder value and after struggling to accomplish that goal through organic growth, I am confident that we now have a plan in place to succeed.”
“When I first acquired Wowio back in 2009, we had a clear plan to monetize the company’s intellectual property, including its patent for inserting ads in eBooks, as we believed we were on the cusp of a major industry changeover, moving from paper to digital publishing,” said Altounian. “I had had success taking development-stage, pre-revenue companies to the public market to access capital to execute on our business plans and I set out to do that with Wowio as well. Unfortunately, a lot of the rules have changed for smaller Over-The-Counter issuers over the last 3 years and we were not able to accomplish our goals as we had done with similar ventures. We crafted this new acquisition strategy and we thought the best person to drive that effort was this brilliant businessman with over 15 years in the M&A space. I am confident that Robert will succeed in accomplishing this goal and I intend to support him with this effort from the Board Chairman role.”
Estareja noted that the Company intends to also pursue the exploitation of its library of creative content as well and Altounian will support those creative pursuits where appropriate.
In addition to its library of creative content, WOWIO holds a proprietary patent that allows for the insertion of advertising into eBooks, providing the digital publishing distribution channel as a viable alternative to that of other content distribution outlets. For further information and updates, follow WOWIO on social media and at http://www.studiowdigital.com.
About WOWIO, Inc.
WOWIO, Inc., (OTCBB: WWIO) is a digital media and technology development company with a patented process and a proprietary mobile ad-delivery platform that will disrupt the eBook distribution landscape by exploiting a previously untapped marketplace: ad-supported eBooks.
Wowio has built and acquired a number of digital media technologies, platforms and distribution outlets and is focusing its efforts on opportunities to create and monetize ancillary content product lines beyond eBooks and other forms of digital media. To learn more about WOWIO, please visit our corporate website at http://www.studiowdigital.com.
Corporate contact:
Robert Estareja
WOWIO, INC.
(310) 272-7988
Safe Harbor Statement
Matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. These include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties associated with: the impact of economic, competitive and other factors affecting the Company and its operations, markets, product, and distributor performance, the impact on the national and local economies resulting from terrorist actions, and U.S. actions subsequently; and other factors detailed in reports filed by the Company. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this release is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.