FLWS: Mentioned yesterday as one of Softbank's major investments in its Softbank Capital Partners $1.25 billion internet venture investments group (see below).
With hope that FLWS will bounce back, regards,
Jake Blackmerlin
"SOFTBANK Invests $57 Million in Toysrus.com; Leading Toy
Internet Retailer and Premier Technology Funds Announce
Strategic Partnership
WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., Feb 24, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Toys "R"
Us, Inc. (NYSE: TOY ), today announced that Toys "R" Us, Toysrus.com and
SOFTBANK Venture Capital and SOFTBANK Capital Partners have signed a
definitive agreement under which SOFTBANK funds invested $57 million for an
undisclosed minority interest in the Toysrus.com Internet business. This capital
will be used to accelerate the development of Toysrus.com's infrastructure to
support future growth. Also under the agreement, SOFTBANK's two U.S.
venture capital funds 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, KKR & Co., and Evercore Partners --
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. 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 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
assets. Our goal is to work with Toysrus.com to create a one-stop children's
product resource for parents, grandparents, 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 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) 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 Corp. e-commerce analyst, SBCP focuses on late stage, pre-IPO
(mezzanine) and post IPO (PIPE) investments. Portfolio investments of SBCP
include Buy.com, Global Sports (Nasdaq: GSPT ), 1-800-Flowers.com
(Nasdaq: FLWS ), 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 .
Distributed via COMTEX." |
