SOFTBANK Invests $57 Million in Toysrus.com; Leading Toy Internet Retailer and Premier Technology Funds Announce Strategic Partnership.Business Editors/Retail & High-Tech Writers WOODCLIFF LAKE Woodcliff Lake may refer to:
Toys "R" Us Toys "R" Us (currently typeset as ToYsЯuS in the logo) is a toy store chain based in the United States, Canada, Australia,The Netherlands, South Africa, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. , Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :TOY), today announced that Toys "R" Us, Toysrus.com and SOFTBANK Venture Capital and SOFTBANK Capital SOFTBANK Capital is a venture capital group in the United States. See also
An investment fund that manages money from investors seeking private equity stakes in small and medium-size enterprises with strong growth potential. Notes: purchased warrants at a cost of $10 million to acquire 1.2 million shares of Toys "R" Us common stock at $13 per share. Rex Golding, managing director of SOFTBANK Venture Capital, will join the Board of Directors of Toysrus.com and Gary Rieschel, executive managing director of SOFTBANK Venture Capital will serve as observer. In addition to SOFTBANK, Toys "R" Us announced that three other top private equity firms -- The Blackstone Group Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX) is a prominent private equity and investment management firm founded in 1985 by Peter G. Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman. The company is based in New York City, in River House on Park Avenue at Fifty-first Street, with offices in Atlanta, , KKR KKR Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker (method) KKR Kohlberg, Kravis & Roberts & Co. KKR Kalkara (postal locality, Malta) KKR Kramers-Kronig Relations KKR Komarappa Gounder Ramalingam (hospital in India) & Co., and Evercore Partners Evercore Partners NYSE: EVR is a boutique investment bank and private equity investment firm located in New York. It was founded by Blackstone Group alumni Austin Beutner and Roger Altman in 1996. -- have committed to minor strategic investments in Toysrus.com. John Eyler, president and chief executive officer of Toys "R" Us said, "We are pleased that through its two funds, SOFTBANK, the premier venture capital firm for Internet businesses, and Toysrus.com will be joining forces. Their equity stake in Toysrus.com is a ringing endorsement of its e-commerce potential and the strength of the Toys "R" Us brand name. We look forward to Toysrus.com's ongoing success as a well-capitalized, well-managed online retailer with the ability to create substantial value for its investors." The SOFTBANK family of companies has emerged as one of the world's leading Internet market forces. The Company has subsidiaries, affiliates, and joint ventures in the U.S., Japan, greater Asia, Europe, India, and Latin America Latin America, the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. . Their portfolio of investments includes a long list of industry successes including, Yahoo!, E*TRADE, GeoCities, USWeb/CKS, ELOAN.com, Buy.com, Webvan.com, iPrint.com, PeoplePC, TheStreet.com and many others. Through its investments in more than 100 web companies, SOFTBANK's Venture Capital and Capital Partners' funds have a net worth of billions in total market valuation. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Rieschel, "Toys "R" Us is one of the few true global retail brands -- its name is as well-known and as popular as Disney and McDonald's throughout the world. Toysrus.com is uniquely positioned to become the global leader for children's products on the Internet." During the last few months of 1999, Toysrus.com became one of the fastest growing Web sites on the Internet. According to Media Metrix, Toysrus.com was the No. 5 most visited e-commerce site overall during the holiday season. In late November, the Company became (in unique visitor traffic as measured by Media Metrix) the No. 1 bricks-and-mortar site, the No. 1 online toy site, and the No. 1 shopping destination site for women -- all with a marketing investment that was a fraction of its competitors. "We believe that this is an extraordinary long-term business opportunity," said Golding. "Toysrus.com has all the right ingredients -- a great new management team, a powerful brand name, international presence, and bricks and mortar A store (shop, supermarket, department store, etc.) in the real world. Contrast with clicks and mortar. assets. Our goal is to work with Toysrus.com to create a one-stop children's product resource for parents, grandparents grandparents npl → abuelos mpl grandparents grand npl → grands-parents mpl grandparents grand npl , and kids anywhere in the world." "The combination of our assets and experience in children's products with SOFTBANK's Internet expertise will allow us to create a world-class e-commerce platform," said John Barbour, 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 Toysrus.com. "SOFTBANK has a superb track record, international savvy, and unbeatable industry experience. They will help us immediately in many areas -- from people, operations, content, and community to strategic partnerships." About Toys "R" Us, Inc. Toys "R" Us, Inc. is the world's leading resource for kids, families and fun, with 1999 sales of more than $11 billion worldwide. It currently operates 1,549 stores: 710 toy stores in the United States; 462 international stores, including franchise stores; 205 Kids "R" Us children's clothing and accessory stores; 132 Babies "R" Us juvenile products stores (which reached $1 billion in sales after just three years of operations); and, 40 Imaginarium kids specialty and educational products stores. About Toysrus.com Toysrus.com (www.toysrus.com) is a leading Internet retailer for toys and children's products. Toysrus.com combines one of the world's most recognizable brands with unparalleled expertise in the toy and children's industry. Offering thousands of toys online, Toysrus.com provides customers with a fun-filled shopping experience featuring a wide selection of popular and hot products. About SOFTBANK Venture Capital SOFTBANK Venture Capital (SOFTBANK VC) manages venture capital funds focused primarily on early-stage Internet companies. SOFTBANK VC's technology fund directors are all experienced technology leaders with prior operating experience as founders of early-stage companies, senior managers of major technology corporations, and leaders in investment banking. SOFTBANK VC's past and current portfolios include public Internet companies such as Critical Path, E-LOAN, GeoCities, Interliant, MessageMedia, Net2Phone, and TheStreet.com. About SOFTBANK Capital Partners SOFTBANK Capital Partners (SBCP SBCP Sociedade Brasileira de Cirurgia Plástica (Brazilian Plastic Surgery Society) SBCP Sabah Biodiversity Conservation Project (Malaysia) ) is a $1.25 billion Internet venture investment group sponsored by SOFTBANK CORP. Led by partners Masayoshi Son, SOFTBANK's Founder, President and CEO; Ronald Fisher, Vice-Chairman of SOFTBANK Holdings Inc.; Charles R. Lax, a co-founder of SOFTBANK Technology Ventures; and 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. e-commerce analyst, SBCP focuses 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 Buy.com, Global Sports (Nasdaq:GSPT), 1-800-Flowers.com (Nasdaq:FLWS FLWS Force Level Warfare Systems ), OptiMark Technologies, PeoplePC, SmartAge, Webhire (Nasdaq:HIRE) and Webvan (Nasdaq:WBVN). SBCP is headquartered in Newton Center, MA. About SOFTBANK CORP. 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, Cisco Systems, Yahoo!, the National Association of Security Dealers, and many other market leaders. In the U.S., SOFTBANK is the largest shareholder in leading Internet companies such as Yahoo!, E*TRADE and ZDNet, and in Europe has established Internet joint ventures with News Corp and Vivendi. For more information, visit www.sbvc.com or www.softbank.com. |
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