Bertelsmann and America Online Announce Launch of Strategic Global Alliance and Plan to Restructure Joint Ventures.Business Editors GUTERSLOH, Germany and DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 17, 2000 $250-Million, Four-Year Alliance to Expand Distribution of Bertelsmann's Leading Media Content and E-Commerce Properties Over America Online's Interactive Brands Worldwide Bertelsmann AG Bertelsmann AG German media company. Beginning as a religious printer and publisher in 1835, the company grew steadily over the next century. Though virtually destroyed by Allied bombing in 1945, it recovered quickly after World War II. and America Online See AOL. , Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : AOL (A division of Time Warner, Inc., New York, NY, www.aol.com) The world's largest online information service with access to the Internet, e-mail, chat rooms and a variety of databases and services. ) today announced a new strategic global alliance to expand the distribution of Bertelsmann's leading media content and e-commerce properties over America Online's interactive brands worldwide, and an agreement to restructure their interests in the AOL Europe and AOL Australia joint ventures. Under the four-year alliance valued at $250 million, Bertelsmann will become a preferred provider of media content and e-commerce to the more than 23 million members of America Online's interactive services and over 135 million consumers of its Web-based brands. Bertelsmann's music, magazine, book, and other entertainment properties, its book and music clubs, and its e-commerce sites will be featured on the AOL, CompuServe and Netscape Online interactive services worldwide as well as AOL Instant Messenger See AIM. , ICQ ("I Seek You") A conferencing program for the Internet from Mirabilis, Tel Aviv, Israel (www.icq.com). It provides interactive chat, e-mail and file transfer and can alert you when someone on your predefined list has also come online. , AOL.COM, Digital City, Spinner, Winamp and its other global Internet properties. Bertelsmann and America Online will also cross-promote each other's brands across their services and properties, and Bertelsmann will provide broadband distribution for America Online and AOL Europe brands. The companies also have agreed to restructure their ownership interests in AOL Europe and AOL Australia. The transaction involves using put and call mechanisms resulting in a cost of $6.75 billion to $8.25 billion to America Online in order to ultimately buy out Bertelsmann's share in the coming years, if the options are exercised. Payment, in either cash or stock at America Online's discretion, would be made after January 31, 2002. With this new relationship, America Online will work even more closely with AOL Europe's strong local management teams. As Europe's leading Internet and e-commerce services company, AOL Europe now reaches more than 3.8 million households through its multiple brands, including more than 3.4 million paying members of AOL and CompuServe, and more than 400,000 Netscape Online registered users. In addition, America Online is to take immediate ownership of Bertelsmann's 50% interest in AOL Australia, subject to receipt of necessary regulatory approvals. Bertelsmann said it would use any resources resulting from this agreement to build its existing e-commerce business and provide seed money for new e-commerce and content activities. For America Online, as it pursues its worldwide growth strategy for all of its brands, this agreement positions the Company to more aggressively serve the global market. By 2004, there will be twice as many online consumers outside the US than inside, with the total in Europe expected to quadruple to 125 million. And, over the next five years, international online advertising is forecast to expand by 80% annually. Thomas Middelhoff Thomas Middelhoff (born May 11, 1953) is a German corporate manager. Since May 2004, Middelhoff has been chairman of the supervisory board of Arcandor, and since May 12, 2005 he has been CEO of the company. , Bertelsmann's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said: "By forging this new global strategic alliance, Bertelsmann will have the largest worldwide distribution of any e-commerce company. In addition, by restructuring our joint venture relationships with America Online, we will gain substantial new resources to focus on our primary goal to fully digitize To convert an image or signal into digital code by scanning, tracing on a graphics tablet or using an analog to digital conversion device. 3D objects can be digitized by a device with a mechanical arm that is moved onto all the corners. Bertelsmann's media properties and build our position as one of the world's leading Internet content and e-commerce companies." Steve Case Steve Case (born August 21, 1958) is a businessman best known as the co-founder and former chief executive officer and chairman of America Online (AOL). He reached his highest profile when he played an instrumental role in AOL's merger with Time Warner in 2000. , Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of America Online, said: "We are extremely pleased to extend our long relationship with Bertelsmann with this new strategic global alliance that will greatly benefit our members and other Internet consumers around the world. America Online and Bertelsmann have built AOL Europe into the leading pan-European Internet provider Internet provider - Internet Service Provider in one of the world's fastest growing markets and launched an exciting new service in Australia. We are fully committed (Law) committed to prison for trial, in distinction from being detained for examination. See also: Fully to continuing to focus our resources, support and management to extend the growth of these businesses and make the medium even more central to consumers' daily lives in those promising markets." Bob Pittman, America Online's President and Chief Operating Officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. , said: "These agreements demonstrate our confidence in both our Bertelsmann partnership and the continued successes of AOL Europe and AOL Australia. Our new alliance will deliver Bertelsmann's world-class content and e-commerce properties to the tens of millions of consumers of our multiple brands around the world. We will work closely with our terrific local management teams to build on our successes in Europe and Australia. In particular, we are excited about accelerating AOL Europe's growth through the expansion of our leading interactive brands and services to new European markets and pursuing our AOL Anywhere strategy with such new platforms as wireless." America Online and Bertelsmann also announced that Michael Lynton, President of AOL International, will become acting Chief Executive Officer of AOL Europe. AOL Europe's current President and Chief Executive Officer, Andreas Schmidt Andreas Schmidt was born March 28, 1961 in the small university town of Göttingen[1], Germany. Before he became journalist by profession, Schmidt dropped out of high school in 1977 to join the German Federal Police. , will continue working with the Company during a transition period before returning to Bertelsmann. Mr. Lynton said: "We thank Andreas for assembling a talented, dedicated and hard-working European staff that has built AOL Europe into the Internet powerhouse that it is today. Under his leadership, AOL Europe now is better positioned than ever to take full advantage of the great opportunities before us." Bertelsmann's global strategic alliance with America Online will include: Bertelsmann E-Commerce Properties: The partners plan to extend their existing e-commerce agreements, as well as enter into new agreements to provide carriage for getmusic.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. , AndSold, evenbetter.com and Bertelsmann's music and books clubs on America Online and AOL Europe services and products, including digital delivery of media content such as digital downloading of music. Bertelsmann Content: Bertelsmann will make its digital content available to America Online and AOL Europe on preferred terms -- including using its local media assets to provide branded localized content. Bertelsmann Preferred Interactive Services: Bertelsmann will designate AOL, CompuServe and Netscape Online as its "Preferred Interactive Services." Cross-marketing: Bertelsmann, AOL Europe and America Online will enter into a series of marketing relationships -- including bundling deals -- to cross-promote each other's services and products to drive growth in AOL Europe and America Online subscribers, as well as Bertelsmann's magazines, music and book clubs, and e-commerce properties. Broadband and Communications Tools: Bertelsmann will provide broadband access See broadband and wireless broadband. through Bertelsmann Broadband Group Platform and Service for America Online and AOL Europe's interactive services, and the two companies will explore giving Bertelsmann use of America Online communications tools including e-mail, AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ and chat. Digital Rights Management Systems: America Online and Bertelsmann will work together on digital rights management issues, including evaluating Intertrust and Reciprocal for secure downloading and financial clearing of all digital content including software. In addition, Bertelsmann will ensure that any DRM (1) (Digital Radio Mondiale) A digital audio broadcasting (DAB) system for AM radio in Europe. See HD Radio. (2) (Digital Rights M system it uses will be ready to use with AOL media players. About AOL Europe Formed in 1995, AOL Europe operates the leading AOL, CompuServe and Netscape Online services and AOL Instant Messenger, as well as the AOL and CompuServe portals in nine countries and four languages across Europe. AOL is the service for the whole family, providing its members with interactive education, entertainment, financial and information content while giving access to a global online community. Last fall, Media Metrix ranked the AOL service across Europe as #1 in online usage with AOL members averaging 30 minutes daily within the AOL service's world-class exclusive content and communities. That compares with the three minutes "Three Minutes" is the 46th episode of Lost. It is the twenty-second episode of the second season. The episode was directed by Stephen Williams, and written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. It first aired on May 17, 2006 on ABC. or less that users of other European ISPs and portals spend within their proprietary content. CompuServe is aimed at the corporate customer and "new professional" user offering specialized information, large-scale databases, unmatched forums and professional communication tools. Netscape Online, AOL Europe's subscription-free online service, is targeted at the UK "value" sector and provides pure, high-performance Internet access See how to access the Internet. . Building on its AOL Anywhere strategy, AOL Europe last month announced wireless agreements with Nokia, Ericsson and RTS (Request To Send) An RS-232 signal sent from the transmitting station to the receiving station requesting permission to transmit. Contrast with CTS. 1. (operating system) RTS - run-time system. 2. Wireless to extend the joint venture's leadership in interactive brands, services and features to the wireless platform. AOL Europe's pan-European staff totals more than 2,000 people. About Bertelsmann AG Bertelsmann AG is the fourth-largest media company in the world, with consolidated revenues of approximately US $16.4 billion. The company has significant interests in all areas of media, including book, magazine and newspaper publishing, music, television, multimedia, film and radio. With more than 600 individual companies, Bertelsmann currently employs nearly 72,000 people in 53 countries. About America Online, Inc. Founded in 1985, America Online, Inc., based in Dulles, Virginia Dulles, Virginia is an unincorporated census-designated place located in Loudoun County, Virginia, part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. The headquarters of AOL, Orbital Sciences Corporation and ODIN technologies and the former headquarters of MCI Inc. are located in Dulles. , is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services. America Online, Inc. operates: two worldwide Internet services, America Online, with more than 21 million members, and CompuServe, with more than 2.5 million members; several leading Internet brands including ICQ, AOL Instant Messenger, Digital City Inc.; the Netscape Netcenter and AOL.COM portals; Netscape Navigator An earlier Web browser for Windows, Macintosh and X Windows from Netscape that provided secure transmission over the Internet. Soon after its introduction in 1994, Navigator, or just "Netscape," as it was commonly called, quickly became the leading browser on the Web. and Communicator browsers; AOL MovieFone; Spinner.com, and Nullsoft Winamp. Through its strategic alliance with Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA[3]) is an American vendor of computers, computer components, computer software, and information-technology services, founded on 24 February 1982. , the company develops and offers easy-to-deploy, end-to-end e-commerce and enterprise solutions for companies operating in the Net Economy. Note to Editors: America Online Chairman and 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. Steve Case, America Online President and COO Bob Pittman and Bertelsmann Chairman and CEO Thomas Middelhoff will discuss the strategic global alliance between AOL and Bertelsmann in a conference call with members of the media at 6:30 AM (Eastern time) today. Reporters in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. should call 888/809-8971 to participate. Members of the media outside the U.S. should call 712/271-0823. To access the call, use the pass code "MEDIA CALL." |
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