CUC International Inc. Acquires Match.Com From Electric
Classifieds, Inc.
PR Newswire - September 25, 1997 13:03
- Purchase of Leading Online Personals Service Expands
CUC's Internet Classified Presence -
- Acquisition Will Build on Hebdo Mag, RentNet Services -
STAMFORD, Conn., Sept. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- In a transaction that
significantly adds to its online classified advertising business, CUC
International Inc. (NYSE: CU) announced today an agreement to purchase
Match.Com, the leading online personal classifieds service, from Electric
Classifieds, Inc. (ECI), a privately held, San Francisco-based provider of
online classified solutions.
This transaction brings Match.Com into the CUC family of classified
advertising services, including RentNet a nationwide network of more than two
million apartment rentals, and the soon-to-be acquired Hebdo Mag
International, a leading international publisher and distributor of classified
advertising information in more than 150 publications worldwide.
Match.Com, commercially launched in 1996, is the largest matchmaking
service on the Internet, with more than 350,000 singles registered to date.
It has won numerous awards, including Yahoo's "Cool Site" and one of PC
Magazine's Top 100 Web sites of 1997. Match.Com's members enjoy an easy-to-
use and customized interface, enhanced security and anonymity, and the ability
to browse, match and chat with thousands of other members. The service also
features a monthly online magazine, "Mix n' Match," which provides matchmaking
hints and tips, monthly columns and member profiles.
According to Walter A. Forbes, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CUC
International, "Match.Com, with its upscale membership base and state-of-the-
art online classified software engine, is a perfect fit for CUC International.
Classified ads generate high-volume, high-value consumer traffic, and
Match.Com has demonstrated its ability to drive consumers to the online world.
We will now be able to leverage our membership offerings and direct marketing
expertise to reach out to Match.Com's members with CUC services."
Elliot Wassarman, President and CEO of Electric Classifieds Inc., stated,
"In just over a year, ECI and Match.Com have brought the timeless art of
matchmaking into cyberspace. We wanted Match.Com to have the continuing
opportunity to grow and prosper, and with CUC's membership services success
and its interactive vision, Match.Com. will be well positioned to realize its
ambitious growth prospects."
The companies announced that the terms of the transaction were
confidential.
CUC International is the leading membership-based, consumer services
company that currently provides approximately 71 million consumers access to
travel, shopping, auto, dining, financial and other services worldwide through
its more than 20 membership programs, including NetMarket, Travelers
Advantage, Entertainment, AutoVantage and other brands. CUC also operates
Dateline, a computer-driven dating service created for and used by more than
300 radio stations across the United States. In August 1997, CUC announced
that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Hebdo Mag
International Inc., a leading international publisher and distributor of
classified advertising information in 12 countries; CUC expects the
acquisition of Hebdo Mag to close in October 1997. In May 1997, CUC announced
a definitive agreement to merge with HFS Incorporated, which reaches 100
million consumers annually as a leading franchiser of brand name hotels,
residential real estate, and car rental operations, with such well-known
brands as Days Inn, Resort Condominiums International, Ramada, Coldwell Banker
and Century 21; the merger of equals between CUC and HFS is expected to close
in the fall of 1997.
Founded in 1994, Electric Classifieds, Inc. was established to create a
dynamic and highly interactive enabling technology for transaction-based
Internet commerce. Classified advertising, the fastest growing component of
Internet commerce and well known as the long-time mainstay of daily and weekly
newspapers around the world, represents the largest market for ECI's state-of-
the-art solutions. ECI's core business unit, Online Classified Solution,
provides privately branded online classified solutions to new media partners.
ECI has developed best of breed technology that allows our partners to provide
new solutions and develop very successful new revenue streams.
SOURCE CUC International Inc.
CONTACT: Laura Hamilton or Chris Jones of CUC International,
203-965-5114; or Lyn Chitow Oakes of Electric Classifieds, Inc., 415-659-6334 |
