Joe, Check this out. Don't know if it hit the wires yet.
Contact:
Kirby Winfield
Jennifer McLean
Jill McKinney
go2net, Inc.
Insync Communications
Silicon Investor, Inc.
(206) 447-1595
(503) 412-3642
(913) 648-2225
fax (206) 447-1625
fax (503) 221-6953
jill@techstocks.com
kirby@go2net.com
jenniferm@insync-pr.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
go2net to Acquire Silicon Investor for $33 Million in Stock
-- Combination Will Create the Premier Destination On the Web for
Investors --
SEATTLE, April 23, 1998 - go2net, Inc. (NASDAQ: GNET), a leader in
providing technology-driven Web sites (http://www.go2net.com), has entered into
a definitive agreement to acquire Silicon Investor, one of the largest
communities on the Internet (http://www.techstocks.com). This acquisition will
increase advertising, subscription and commerce opportunities for go2net,
as well as nearly triple the company's current total page views per month
and significantly increase its overall reach.
More than 100,000 individual investors visit Silicon Investor each day to
discuss and research investments, resulting in over 100 million page views
per month. This makes it one of the most highly trafficked sites in the
personal finance category, which has been identified by analysts as one of
the most financially lucrative on the entire Web.
The combination of Silicon Investor and go2net's existing StockSite
(http://www.stocksite.com) will create one of the premier destinations on the
Web for the individual investor, with over 150,000 unique users per day
and a community of over 1 million. It will also create an unparalleled
"one-stop shop" destination for investors, and will offer financial
discussion, proprietary company and market analysis, company research
offerings, portfolio services, and comprehensive charting capabilities.
Further, it will greatly benefit the site's advertisers and commerce partners.
"Silicon Investor is the perfect match for us because of our shared business
philosophy of technology-driven Web sites, which allows for low-cost
content creation" said Russell C. Horowitz, CEO of go2net. "Our
acquisition of Silicon Investor presents tremendous opportunities for
operational synergies."
Silicon Investor co-founder Jeff Dryer stated, "We started Silicon Investor
with a dream and that dream is now bigger than ever. go2net has the
infrastructure in place and the vision to take Silicon Investor to the next
level."
Added co-founder Brad Dryer, "We are looking forward to moving
operations to Seattle. go2net has a young, fast-moving team that works well
together and sees the infinite potential of the financial space."
The acquisition will allow go2net to create one of the largest online
communities in a highly desirable demographic category and provide
advertisers with a greater inventory of targeted advertising opportunities.
Based on recent usage numbers, go2net and Silicon Investor together have
approximately 500,000 unique visitors per day, as well as 5 million unique
users and 180 million page views per month, placing go2net in the top tier
of the online industry.
Acquiring Silicon Investor represents a significant step in go2net's
acquisition strategy, which is aimed toward creating a network of premier
niche Web sites. This transaction will position go2net to pursue four
distinct revenue streams: Advertising, Subscription Services, Technology
Licensing and Commerce. In addition to advertising revenues, Silicon
Investor derives a substantial portion of its revenues from subscription fees.
Under the terms of the acquisition, go2net will issue approximately 1.25
million of its common shares in exchange for all outstanding securities of
Silicon Investor, which will become a wholly owned subsidiary of go2net.
The acquisition is subject to the approval of go2net's shareholders and other
customary closing conditions.
In operation since 1995, Silicon Investor is the largest discussion
community on the Web and holds the number one market position for
financial discussion both in terms of quantity and quality of messages. Over
70,000 messages are posted per week and more than 4 million messages
have been posted to date, a number that represents more than 70% of all
financial discussion on the Internet over the last three years. It is one of the
top 10 trafficked Web sites in the personal finance category and is one of
the top 100 Web sites overall according to PC Magazine Online. In
addition, Brad and Jeff Dryer, co-founders of Silicon Investor, have been
recognized by Institutional Investor magazine as being among 20 pioneers
who are revolutionizing finance on the Web.
go2net's Russell C. Horowitz added, "As significant as the acquisition of
Silicon Investor is in executing our plan of creating a network of premier
niche Web sites, we are equally excited to have Brad and Jeff Dryer join
the go2net team. We will be looking for Brad and Jeff to continue providing
the vision behind the site and will provide the necessary resources for them
to enhance the site and build the community. They have been successful in
creating value-added services that substantiate users paying subscription
fees, which is a highly desirable business model -- they have created a site
and technology that are truly one of a kind."
The acquisition of Silicon Investor will also give go2net access to its highly
scalable message board technology, which go2net anticipates it will deploy
on its other sites.
About Silicon Investor:
Silicon Investor (http://www.techstocks.com) is one the most successful
communities on the Web. Its proprietary technology permits rapid
development of dynamic Web sites, and includes one of the most scalable
platforms available for threaded discussion.
About go2net:
go2net, Inc. (http://www.go2net.com) is a leader in providing technology-driven,
premier niche Web sites, and develops unique Java technologies. go2net's
properties include: MetaCrawler (http://www.metacrawler.com), a search/index
guide that combines various existing search/index guides into one service (a
"metasearch engine"); PlaySite (http://www.playsite.com), a Java-based
multiplayer online games network; and StockSite (http://www.stocksite.com),
which offers proprietary articles, portfolio tracking tools, company
research and news relating to business and finance. The Company focuses
on creating and integrating innovative technologies to deliver its content and
enhance the attractiveness, utility and usability of its product offerings.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve risks
and uncertainties, including those relating to the company's ability to grow
its user and advertiser base. Actual results may differ materially from the
results predicted and reported results should not be considered as an
indication of future performance. The potential risks and uncertainties
include, among others, the Company's extremely limited operating history,
the competitive environment in which the Company competes, the early
stage of the Web as an advertising medium, the Company's dependence on
advertising revenues and the Company's dependence on strategic
relationships to drive traffic to its Web sites. More information about the
potential factors that could affect the Company's business and financial
results is included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
year ended September 30, 1997, and quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended December 31, 1997, which are on file with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. |
