BUY.COM Announces Landmark $165 Million Investment From SOFTBANK; Renowned E-Commerce Analyst Bill Burnham to Join BUY.COM's Board.ALISO VIEJO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 16, 1999-- BUY.COM (1) (Computer Output Microfilm) Creating microfilm or microfiche from the computer. A COM machine receives print-image output from the computer either online or via tape or disk and creates a film image of each page. , a leading Internet retailer and e-commerce portal site Noun 1. portal site - a site that the owner positions as an entrance to other sites on the internet; "a portal typically has search engines and free email and chat rooms etc. , today announced that a SOFTBANK Capital SOFTBANK Capital is a venture capital group in the United States. See also
SBCP Sabah Biodiversity Conservation Project (Malaysia) ) led syndicate has agreed to purchase $165 million in BUY.COM stock from BUY.COM and a group of existing shareholders. Other investors include Vivendi S
VIVENDI® is a software package for care management and staff organisation published by the German software company CONNEXT and introduced in 1995. .A. and the epartners Capital Ltd. subsidiary of News Corp. Today's announcement marks the third and most substantial investment by SOFTBANK and its affiliates in the company's capital stock over approximately the last year. Upon completion of this financing, SOFTBANK will hold approximately 31 percent of common stock of BUY.COM, assuming the conversion of its preferred stock Stock shares that have preferential rights to dividends or to amounts distributable on liquidation, or to both, ahead of common shareholders. Preferred stock is given preference over common stock. Holders of preferred stock receive dividends at a fixed annual rate. . "We are very excited about SOFTBANK's continued commitment and support of our business model," said Greg Hawkins Gregory Dale Hawkins was a trader and principal in the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management that after four spectacularly successful years lost most of its clients' money in 1998 when the Russian government defaulted on its debt payments on August 17, 1998, triggering a , CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of BUY.COM. "This latest investment further solidifies our partnership and supports our efforts to become the destination site for online shopping." Masayoshi Son Masayoshi Son (Japanese: 孫正義, Son Masayoshi; born August 111957 in Tosu, Saga Prefecture, Japan) is a Korean-Japanese and the founder and current chief executive officer of Softbank Capital, and the chief executive officer of SoftBank Mobile (the , Chairman of SOFTBANK Corp., stated: "We believe that BUY.COM will be one of the leading Internet retail stores worldwide. We are confident that BUY.COM's visionary and highly successful business approach, coupled with an excellent leadership team, will continue to challenge the way consumers purchase their goods on a global basis." New Board Member In addition, BUY.COM named Bill Burnham, former Credit Suisse First Boston Credit Suisse First Boston was originally the trading name of the Financière Crédit Suisse-First Boston, a London-based 50-50 investment banking joint venture formed in 1978 between the First Boston Corporation and Credit Suisse. Corp. analyst and now General Partner of SOFTBANK Capital Partners, to its board of directors. Burnham is widely acknowledged as being an e-commerce pioneer and was considered one of the most influential Wall Street analysts prior to joining SBCP. Said Hawkins, "We are thrilled that Bill will be joining our already very strong board. With his extensive e-commerce background and influence in the industry, he will be filling a critical role on our board." In conjunction with this investment, BUY.COM and SOFTBANK and its partners have signed binding term sheets to form joint ventures in Europe, the United Kingdom and Japan, expanding BUY.COM's powerful business model overseas. Negotiations regarding details of this agreement are currently underway. About SOFTBANK Corp. and SOFTBANK Capital Partners SOFTBANK Corp. has emerged as one of the world's leading Internet market forces. Through its ownership positions in more than 100 Internet companies and its unique Internet-zaibatsu management concept, it is able to create market synergies for its family of companies on a global scale. In Japan its activities encompass distribution, publishing, Internet media platforms, a broad range of e-commerce businesses, and joint ventures with companies such as Microsoft Corporation (company) Microsoft Corporation - The biggest supplier of operating systems and other software for IBM PC compatibles. Software products include MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, Windows NT, Microsoft Access, LAN Manager, MS Client, SQL Server, Open Data Base Connectivity (ODBC), MS Mail, , Cisco, Yahoo! Inc., the Nasdaq Stockmarket, and many other market leaders. In the US, SOFTBANK is the largest shareholder in leading Internet companies such as Yahoo! Inc., E-TRADE Group, Inc. and ZDNet, and in Europe has established Internet joint ventures with News Corp and Vivendi. (www.softbank.co.jp) Recently formed, SOFTBANK Capital Partners (SBCP) is the newest Internet venture investment group sponsored by SOFTBANK Corp. SBCP closed its first fund with $1.25 billion. Formed by SOFTBANK's Founder and President Masayoshi Son, Vice Chairman of SOFTBANK, Inc. Ronald Fisher, a co-founder of SOFTBANK Technology Ventures, Charles R. Lax, and now joined by former Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. e-commerce analyst Bill Burnham, SBCP will focus on late stage pre-IPO (mezzanine) and post IPO (Initial Public Offering) The first time a company offers shares of stock to the public. While not a computer term per se, many founders, employees and insiders of computer companies have found this acronym more exciting than any tech term they ever heard. (PIPE) investments. Portfolio investments of SBCP include Global Sports, Inc., 1-800-Flowers.com Inc., Webvan Group, Inc. and OptiMark Technologies, Inc. SBCP is headquartered in Newton Center, Mass. (http://www.softbank.com) About BUY.COM Founded in October 1996, BUY.COM is a leading Internet superstore, offering a comprehensive selection of brand name computer hardware and peripherals, software, books, videos, DVDs, computer games, music and surplus equipment at everyday low prices. Through seven online specialty stores -- BUYCOMP.COM, BUYSOFT.COM, BUYBOOKS.COM, BUYVIDEOS.COM, BUYMUSIC.COM, BUYGAMES.COM and BUYSURPLUS.COM -- BUY.COM offers more than 800,000 products in a convenient, intuitive shopping interface that features extensive product information and multi-media presentations. BUY.COM's e-commerce portal, www.buy.com, links all seven specialty stores and is designed to enhance the customer's online shopping experience 24 hours a day, seven days a week. More information on BUY.COM is available at the corporate Website, www.buy.com. Note to Editors: Buy.Com, BuyComp.Com, BuySoft.Com, BuyBooks.Com, BuyVideos.Com, BuyMusic.Com, BuyGames.Com AND BuySurplus.Com are trademarks or service marks of Buy.Com Inc. All other trademarks and registered marks belong to their respective owners. |
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