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To: phil who wrote (22)	2/2/2000 8:44:00 PM
From: Glenn Petersen	Respond to of 133

KNOT acquires a magazine publisher: biz.yahoo.com Wednesday February 2, 7:06 pm Eastern Time FOCUS-Knot acquires magazine publisher Weddingpages NEW YORK, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Online wedding site The Knot Inc. (NasdaqNM: KNOT - news) said Wednesday it has agreed to acquire U.S. magazine publisher Weddingpages Inc. for $8.5 million in cash to broaden its reach into the regional wedding market. New York-based Knot said it also hopes to gain additional advertising revenues as it continues to publish quarterly regional magazines in more than 50 U.S. markets. Shares of The Knot were up 5/8 trading at 7-5/8 on the Nasdaq stock market. The company said it hopes to benefit from the steady stream of local advertising revenues from increased focus on national advertising and local market expansion on the Web. ``Our merger with Weddingpages will enable us to achieve first-mover advantage in the local wedding market, which accounts for a significant portion of the overall wedding industry,' says David Liu, chief executive at The Knot. Credit Suisse First Boston Internet analyst Lise Buyer on Wednesday said he believes Weddingpages' vast database of local wedding suppliers and the offline extension of The Knot will ``prove to be big and obvious advantages over time.' Buyer currently has a strong buy rating on The Knot. The Knot and closely held Weddingpages formed an alliance last July giving the Knot access to the publishing company's directory of local wedding professionals, which were already featured on Weddingpages.com, the company's Web site. The July deal also included the sharing of advertising revenues from online sales. The merger, which is expected to close within 60 days, is subject to approval from Weddingpages shareholders. The Knot said it had entered into voting agreements with two major shareholders who, combined, own a majority of the outstanding common stock of Weddingpages. Once the deal is closed, Weddingpages will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Knot. ``Because most planning and purchasing takes place on a local level, it is crucial for us to service our users in their respective hometowns,' said Ben Bilbrough, director of local services at The Knot. ``At the same time, we will be providing our newly acquired print advertisers with access to our enormous online audience.' The Knot is expected to report fourth quarter earnings on Feb. 3 after the market closes.