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SOFTBANK Group Invests Additional $35 Million in InsWeb, Increases Stake in Online Insurance Marketplace
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 3 /PRNewswire/ -- InsWeb, the Internet's leading insurance marketplace, announced today that SOFTBANK Group increased its minority ownership in the company with a new $35 million equity investment. InsWeb intends to use a portion of the proceeds to develop a variety of additional products and services for its online marketplace, including those targeted at the small commercial insurance market. InsWeb will initially focus on the small group health portion of that market.
In December 1998, venture funds managed by SOFTBANK made an initial investment of $30 million in InsWeb. Also in December, the companies announced the creation of a joint venture called InsWeb Japan K.K. to develop an online insurance marketplace for Japanese consumers.
InsWeb is a privately held company whose other investors include Nationwide Insurance, one of the biggest insurance carriers in the country; AMS Services, a consortium of leading insurance companies led by CNA (NYSE: CNA - news); Boston-based Century Capital, the oldest investment fund specializing in insurance; and Marsh & McLennan (NYSE: MMC - news), the largest insurance broker in the world.
About InsWeb
InsWeb, the Internet's leading insurance marketplace at www.insweb.com, helps consumers save time and money by providing free, multiple insurance quotes from the nation's leading carriers. InsWeb's 33 participating carriers offer auto, term life, homeowners, renters, individual health and short-term medical insurance. In addition to comparison shopping, InsWeb also provides interactive tools and research capabilities that enable consumers to make more informed decisions. InsWeb is accessible at Yahoo!, Infoseek, Snap.com, Go2Net, Microsoft Money 99, E*TRADE, and E-LOAN as well as more than 65 other leading Web sites. InsWeb is rated the Internet's No. 1 insurance site by Lafferty Group, a leading independent consulting firm. InsWeb is headquartered in Redwood City, Calif.
About SOFTBANK Corp.
SOFTBANK Corp. (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 9984) is a leading provider of information and distribution services for the digital information industry. In Japan, SOFTBANK is the largest distributor of software and computer technology publications. In the U.S., SOFTBANK owns approximately 72% of Ziff-Davis, Inc. (NYSE: ZD - news), 29% of Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO - news), 80% of Kingston Technology Company, and 27% of E*Trade Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: EGRP - news).
SOURCE: InsWeb Corporation |
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