BOCA RATON, Fla., July 10, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Silverstar Holdings (Nasdaq:SSTR) is pleased to announce the hiring of Karim Farghaly as head of its new North American Sales Division. Mr. Farghaly will oversee all sales activities for both Empire Interactive and Strategy First in the U.S., Canada and Latin America.
"I am delighted that Karim has agreed to head our North American sales effort," said Ian Higgins, CEO of Empire Interactive. "It has been our longstanding aim to take more control of our North American sales and with Karim leading the charge I believe that we will see a significant increase in our overall U.S. presence giving rise to both higher sales and gross margins for all our products. Karim will be a key player, not only in expanding our direct sales, but will help build our important strategic relationship with Warner Bros."
"I am delighted to join such an experienced and talented global management team," said Karim Farghaly. "Both the Empire and Strategy First product pipelines offer a tremendous opportunity for growth in the North American territory and we are looking forward to continuing to build on our solid, long-term partnerships."
Clive Kabatznik, CEO of Silverstar Holdings, said, "Hiring Karim as head of our new North American sales operation is a further key step in creating an infrastructure and management team that can take us to a new level where we can compete on an equal footing with our much larger competitors. The integration of the North American sales of all our products under Karim's management will allow us to aggressively expand our sales reach and direct interface with both key retailers as well as the end consumer."
Mr. Farghaly will be based in Austin, Texas. As a result Silverstar has closed its San Francisco office and reduced its California staff count. This new hire will, therefore, be expense neutral for the company.
Karim Farghaly joins Silverstar from Aspyr Media. Since April 2005 he has been responsible for Aspyr's North American retail sales, leading a team of 15 representatives. Karim oversaw sales growth of 80% during his tenure and was instrumental in Aspyr's transition into a multi-platform publisher. Prior to Aspyr, Karim was European Sales Director for the OEM division of Interplay Entertainment Corp. in London.
About Silverstar Holdings:
Silverstar Holdings, Ltd. is a publicly traded company (Nasdaq:SSTR) focusing on acquiring controlling positions in high-growth retail-driven and fee-based electronic game businesses that stand to benefit from the economies of scale generated by the Internet and other technology-related platforms. It currently owns Empire Interactive, PLC and Strategy First, Inc.
Empire Interactive is a leading publisher of interactive software. It develops and publishes a varied range of titles for all current platforms in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Games such as FlatOut, Ford Racing, Big Mutha Truckers and Starsky & Hutch have all enjoyed success across the world. Its budget label is one of the fastest growing in Europe. Further information about Empire Interactive and its products can be found at www.empireinteractive.com.
The Empire Interactive logo is available at http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=3408
The statements which are not historical facts contained in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve certain risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to risks associated with the uncertainty of future financial results, additional financing requirements, development of new products, regulatory approval processes, the impact of competitive products or pricing, technological changes, the effect of economic conditions and other uncertainties detailed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.