CMG oVentures II Announces Sale of PlanetAll to Amazon.com.ANDOVER, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 4, 1998--CMG Information Services See Information Systems. , Inc., (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :CMGI CMGI Commonly Maintained Grounds Infrastructures CMGI College Marketing Group Information (Services) ) today announced its CMG CMG Coastal & Marine Geology (USGS) CMG Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (stock symbol) CMG Companion (of the Order Of) St Michael and St George CMG Computer Measurement Group @Ventures II a venture capital subsidiary has signed a merger agreement to sell its 25 percent stake in PlanetAll, the Web-based contact management service, to Amazon.com, Inc., (NASDAQ:AMZN AMZN Amazon.com (NASDAQ symbol) ), the leading online retailer of books and CDs. This CMG @Ventures II sale will be made in conjunction with Amazon.com's purchase of 100 percent of PlanetAll in exchange for 800,000 shares of Amazon.com stock plus assumption of all outstanding options. Beginning with its first investment in June, 1997, CMG @Ventures II has invested a total of $5 million in PlanetAll, and will receive 225,000 shares of restricted Amazon.com stock pursuant to this transaction. PlanetAll will be operated as a wholly owned subsidiary Wholly Owned Subsidiary A subsidiary whose parent company owns 100% of its common stock. Notes: In other words, the parent company owns the company outright and there are no minority owners. of Amazon.com and will be located in Cambridge, Massachusetts This article is about the city of Cambridge in Massachusetts. For the English university town, see Cambridge, England. For other places, see Cambridge (disambiguation). Cambridge, Massachusetts is a city in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts, United States. . PlanetAll operates a unique Web-based address book, calendar, and reminder service at http://www.PlanetAll.com. More than 1.5 million people use the secure, free service to organize and automatically update information about friends, business associates, relatives, and alumni. PlanetAll has integrated its service into the sites of a number of leading partners, including Lycos, GeoCities and Planet Direct, as well as numerous universities and professional associations. "I am pleased by the fact that an Internet player of Amazon.com's stature has recognized PlanetAll's enviable position on the Internet," said David Wetherell, CMG's 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. , noting that PlanetAll's traffic growth has outpaced overall Internet traffic Internet traffic is the flow of data around the Internet. It includes web traffic, which is the amount of that data that is related to the World Wide Web, along with the traffic from other major uses of the Internet, such as electronic mail and peer-to-peer networks. growth. "We recognized the power of the PlanetAll concept early on and created synergies with other CMG companies that have brought PlanetAll to a new level of prominence. We look forward to building on those synergies, leveraging our relationship with PlanetAll and Amazon.com." PlanetAll takes a revolutionary, new approach to managing contact information, eliminating the need to manually revise individual phone numbers and addresses. "Our commitment to simplifying contact management dovetails perfectly with Amazon.com's mission of leveraging the power of the Internet to enhance personal convenience," said Jim Savage For other persons named Jim Savage, see Jim Savage (disambiguation). Jim Savage was born in the Midwest between 1815 and 1820. Around the age of fifteen, his family settled in Princeton, Illinois. , CEO of PlanetAll. "Amazon.com's tremendous reach and penetration has the potential to introduce millions more to discover the value and convenience of PlanetAll's services." President and founder of PlanetAll Warren Adams added, "I am thrilled about today's announcement and give CMG @Ventures II a lot of credit for making so much happen in just one year since they first invested. CMG was one of the few venture capital firms Name Location Founding date Managing Partners/Directors Specialty Capital managed 5AM Ventures Menlo Park, CA; Waltham, MA 2002 John Diekman, PhD (managing partner), Scott Rocklage, PhD (managing partner), Andrew Schwab (managing partner) life sciences $200M [1] that understood how to create value on the Internet and as a result took a bet on us. From the outset, they provided tremendous value, offering management guidance, vital introductions, and the cumulative knowledge gleaned from their various portfolio companies. Without CMG, the road to realizing this vision would have been much more difficult if not impossible." About PlanetAll PlanetAll (www.planetall.com) provides next-generation, Web-based contact management services to people who want to optimize the value of ever-changing network of professional and personal contacts. Over 1.5 million people currently use PlanetAll's free and private service to securely manage their own contacts and access a vast network of potential contacts. Users of PlanetAll's service benefit from address books that become self-populating and universally accessible. The service also includes periodic emails that summarize any address changes or other news about their contacts, and networking tools to expand their circle of contacts. PlanetAll's service automatically updates most Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), Personal Information Managers (PIMs), laptops, electronic organizers, smart phones and pagers with fresh contact information. PlanetAll's service is available to everyone through some of the Web's largest sites including Lycos and GeoCities. About CMG Information Services CMG Information Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:CMGI) is an investor and developer of Internet companies. In addition, CMGI operates direct marketing companies and venture funds focused on the Internet. Microsoft, Intel and Sumitomo hold minority positions in CMG Information Services. The CMG Internet Group is made up primarily of majority-owned subsidiary majority-owned subsidiary A firm in which more than 50% of outstanding voting stock is owned by the parent company. companies including Planet Direct, NaviSite, Engage Technologies, Accipiter, ADSmart, InfoMation, The Password and Magnitude Networks. In addition to PlanetAll, the company's CMG @Ventures investment affiliates have significant interests in Lycos, Inc. (NASDAQ:LCOS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) A technology used to make microdisplays for rear-projection TVs and head-mounted displays (HMDs). Each LCoS chip hosts a grayscale LCD shutter sandwiched between a cover glass and a mirror. ), blaxxun, Vicinity, GeoCities, Parable LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control , KOZ, Silknet, Chemdex, Speech Machines, Softway Systems, TicketsLive Corporation, Critical Path, Mother Nature, and Visto Corporation. CMG @Ventures recently announced a definitive agreement to sell its investment in Reel.com to Hollywood Entertainment. In addition, CMG will invest approximately $34 million in Hollywood Entertainment. CMG also includes CMG Direct, SalesLink, InSolutions and On-Demand Solutions as wholly owned subsidiaries in the direct marketing, fulfillment and turn-key arenas. Corporate headquarters is located at 100 Brickstone Square, Andover, MA 01810. Telephone: 978-684-3600. Fax: 978-684-3674. Additional information is available on the company's Web site, http://www.cmgi.com
CONTACT: Mary Garrity Cormier Diane Parazin
CMG Information Services Copithorne & Bellows
(978) 684-3789 (617) 450-4300
mgarritycormier@cmgi.com diane.parazin@cbpr.com
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