CMGI To Acquire uBid.com; CMGI to Expand B2B Focus While Driving Increased Traffic to Fast-Growing B2C Business of Popular Auction Site.Business/Technology Editors ANDOVER, Mass. and CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 10, 2000 Editor's Summary: --CMGI announces definitive agreement to acquire uBid.com in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $407 million --CMGI to accelerate uBid.com traffic growth, revenue streams by maximizing synergies with existing network properties such as MyWay.com, iCAST, yesmail.com(1) and AltaVista, and enhance inventory management and product fulfillment services through SalesLink --uBid.com to contribute industry-leading capabilities in online merchandising and inventory management for growth of CMGI-affiliated e-commerce properties --Acquisition expected to close in May 2000, following shareholder and regulatory approvals CMGI CMGI Commonly Maintained Grounds Infrastructures CMGI College Marketing Group Information (Services) , Inc. (Nasdaq: CMGI), the world's largest and most diversified network of Internet companies, announced today that it has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire uBid.com (NASDAQ: UBID), a leading e-commerce auction site, in a stock-for-stock merger transaction valued at approximately $407 million. Under the terms of the merger agreement, CMGI will issue .2628 CMGI shares for every share of uBid.com held on the closing date of the transaction. Closing of the transaction, expected in May of 2000, is subject to customary regulatory approvals, including formal approval by uBid.com shareholders. Upon closing, uBid.com will become a majority-owned operating company operating company A business that engages in transactions with outsiders. of CMGI. uBid.com, the Internet leader in business-to-consumer auctions, operates a thriving online auction marketplace offering brand-name products to both consumers and businesses. uBid.com provides consumers the opportunity to set their own prices on popular products at significant discounts to those found in traditional channels. In addition, uBid.com auctions provide leading suppliers such as Sony, IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) , Hewlett Packard, Canon, Epson, and Harmon Kardon, with an inexpensive and highly efficient channel for selling excess or unique items on a timely basis, while preserving their existing distribution channels. uBid.com's auctions feature a rotating selection of brand name items in 12 categories or &uot;stores&uot;: computers; monitors, printers and more; consumer electronics; home &leisure; sports ad recreation; jewelry jewelry, personal adornments worn for ornament or utility, to show rank or wealth, or to follow superstitious custom or fashion. The most universal forms of jewelry are the necklace, bracelet, ring, pin, and earring. &gifts; off-lease computers; clothing and apparel; home improvements; art; appliance; and travel and events. To help accelerate uBid.com's already impressive growth and revenue performance, upon closing of the transaction CMGI intends to exploit a number of highly synergistic opportunities with other companies now in the CMGI network. These include several opportunities with both business- to-consumer (B2C (Business to Consumer) Refers to a business communicating with or selling to an individual rather than a company. See B2B. ) and business-to-business (B2B (Business to Business) Refers to one business communicating with or selling to another. See B2B e-commerce, B2C and B2G. B2B - business to business ) e-commerce companies that can distribute inventory through uBid.com. Additionally, CMGI expects to integrate uBid.com's auction and merchandising capabilities into the enterprise arena through its extensive network of business-to-business affiliates, such as CMGI Solutions and MyWay.com. CMGI also intends to leverage its existing network of sites to drive increased traffic, as well as apply the strengths of its marketing and advertising properties, such as Engage and yesmail.com(1), to help uBid.com more effectively monetize its site traffic and mine its growing database of more than a million registered users. &uot;Online auctions, both B2C and B2B, are one of the fastest-growing areas of the Internet, and uBid.com has distinguished itself in the market with highly differentiated merchandising and inventory management capabilities that will prove hugely valuable as this model scales for the future,&uot; said David Wetherell, 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. , CMGI. &uot;We believe there's tremendous opportunity in applying these techniques to CMGI's existing e-commerce companies, and in building aggressively to extend these technologies into the emerging B2B marketplace through licensing and other channels.&uot; &uot;Joining the CMGI network of companies will allow uBid.com to more rapidly and more efficiently expand our unique merchandising model in both the B2B and B2C market segments,&uot; said Greg Jones Greg Jones may refer to:
uBid.com was founded in April of 1997 by Creative Computers to facilitate the movement of excess and refurbished inventory through the online commerce channel. The company was later incorporated in 1997 and became listed on the Nasdaq exchange through an initial public offering on December 4, 1998. About CMGI and CMGI @Ventures With more than 60 companies, CMGI, Inc. (Nasdaq: CMGI) represents the largest, most diverse network of Internet companies in the world. This network includes both CMGI operating companies and a growing number of synergistic investments through its venture capital affiliate, CMGI @Ventures. CMGI leverages the technologies, content and market reach of its extended family of companies to foster rapid growth and industry leadership across its network, and the larger Internet Economy The Internet Economy refers to conducting business through markets whose infrastructure is based on the Internet and World-Wide Web. An Internet economy differs from a traditional economy in a number of ways, including: communication, market segmentation, distribution costs, and price. . Compaq, Intel, Microsoft, Pacific Century CyberWorks and Sumitomo hold minority positions in CMGI. CMGI's majority-owned operating companies include Engage Technologies (Nasdaq: ENGA), NaviSite (Nasdaq: NAVI NAVI Nuclear Arms Verification Instrument NAVI New Analog Video Interface ), 1ClickBrands, 1stUp.com, Activate.net, AdForce, Adsmart, AltaVista, CMGI Solutions, Equilibrium, Flycast, iCAST, Magnitude Network, MyWay.com, NaviNet, SalesLink, Tribal Voice
adj. 1. Of a golden color; gilded. 2. Inflated and pompous in style. [Middle English aureat, from Late Latin aure Media, blaxxun, BizBuyer.com, Boatscape.com, buyersedge.com, CarParts.com, CraftShop.com, eCircles.com, eGroups.com, EXP.com, FindLaw, FoodBuy.com, Furniture.com, Gamers.com, Half.com, HotLinks, Industria, INPHO/HomePriceCheck.com, Intelligent/Digital, KnowledgeFirst, KOZ.com, Mondera.com, MyFamily.com, NextMonet.com, NextOffice.com, NextPlanetOver.com, Oncology.com, OneCore.com, PlanetOutdoors.com, Productopia, SnapFish.com, Speech Machines, ThingWorld.com, Vicinity, Virtual Ink, Visto, Vstore and WebCT. CMGI and CMGI @Ventures Corporate headquarters are located at 100 Brickstone Square, Andover, MA 01810. Telephone: 978-684-3600. Fax: 978-684-3814. CMGI @Ventures also has offices at 3000 Alpine Road, Menlo Park Menlo Park. 1 Residential city (1990 pop. 28,040), San Mateo co., W Calif.; inc. 1874. Electronic equipment and aerospace products are manufactured in the city. Menlo College and a Stanford Univ. research institute are there. 2 Uninc. , CA 94028; 650-233-0333. Additional information is available on the company's Web sites at http://www.cmgi.com and http://www.ventures.com. About uBid.com uBid.com is a leading online auction and e-commerce site offering brand name products to consumers and businesses through live-action bidding using sophisticated auction technology. The company's Internet auctions feature a rotating selection of brand-name computers, consumer electronics, housewares house·wares pl.n. Cooking utensils, dishes, and other small articles used in a household, especially in the kitchen. , sporting goods Noun 1. sporting goods - sports equipment sold as a commodity commodity, trade good, good - articles of commerce sports equipment - equipment needed to participate in a particular sport and memorabilia, jewelry, apparel, appliances, art, travel and events, home improvement products, and off-lease computer equipment. Industrial and manufacturing equipment is also available at www.srauction.com and www.ironmall.com. uBid.com is committed to providing all customers with the highest-quality auction experience on the Internet and offers supplier warranties on most consumer products. uBid.com also meets Better Business Bureau Online standards, which give customers the confidence and security to bid safely online. uBid.com, with headquarters in Illinois, is a publicly traded company publicly traded company A company whose shares of common stock are held by the public and are available for purchase by investors. The shares of publicly traded firms are bought and sold on the organized exchanges or in the over-the-counter market. (Nasdaq: UBID). For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.ubid.com. EDITOR'S NOTE Editor's Note (foaled in 1993 in Kentucky) is an American thoroughbred Stallion racehorse. He was sired by 1992 U.S. Champion 2 YO Colt Forty Niner, who in turn was a son of Champion sire Mr. Prospector and out of the mare, Beware Of The Cat. Trained by D. : Executives from CMGI and uBid.com will be available to discuss the pending acquisition on an conference call scheduled for today at 10 AM EST EST electroshock therapy. EST abbr. electroshock therapy . Interested parties may participate in the call by dialing 1-800-553-5275; international callers may dial (612) 332-0530. The conference call will also be webcast from the CMGI web site at http://www.cmgi.com/investor/webcast.html. CMGI and uBid expect to file a proxy statement/prospectus under the securities act of 1933 with respect to the business combination described herein. Investors are urged to read the relevant documents filed or to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission because they contain important information. Investors may obtain these documents for free at the web site maintained by the Securities and Exchange commission at http://www.sec.gov. In addition, any such documents, excluding exhibits, may be obtained from CMGI without charge by requesting them in writing or by telephone at the following address: CMGI, Inc.; attention: Catherine Taylor Catherine Taylor may refer to:
The process by which the corporation communicates with its investors. ; 100 Brickstone Square; Andover, MA 01810; Telephone: (978) 684-3600; http://www.cmgi.com. This release contains forward-looking statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. based on current expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions about future events, and these statements are subject to important factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this release address a variety of subjects including, for example, the expected benefits resulting from the acquisition of uBid by CMGI and the expected ability of CMGI to leverage its existing network of sites. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements: the successful completion of the acquisition of uBid; the risk that uBid's business will not be successfully integrated with the business of CMGI; and increased competition and technological changes in the industries in which CMGI and uBid compete. For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer to CMGI's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including CMGI's Annual Report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. for the most recently ended fiscal year. (1) On December 15, 1999, CMGI announced a definitive agreement to acquire yesmail.com. The acquisition, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals, is expected to close in March 2000. |
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