Lycos Acquires WhoWhere in $133 Million Stock Deal; Move Dramatically Changes Portal Landscape
Business Wire - August 11, 1998 06:24
%LYCOS LCOS %MASSACHUSETTS %COMED %COMPUTERS %ELECTRONICS %INTERACTIVE %MULTIMEDIA %INTERNET V%BW P%BW
WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 11, 1998--
Becomes Owner of Three Top 10 Web Sites;
Significantly Expands Reach of the Lycos Network;
Largest & Fastest Growing Online Community Adds
Over 10 Million Registered Users
Lycos, Inc. (NASDAQ:LCOS), "Your Personal Internet Guide," announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire WhoWhere? Inc. for $133 million in stock. This move represents yet another significant increase in Lycos' audience reach, which now soars to more than 31 percent (Media Metrix 6/98) and strengthens its position as a premier Web destination. The expanded Lycos network includes lycos.com, angelfire.com, whowhere.com, mailcity.com and tripod.com, and is:
-- The fourth most popular Web destination in the world behind only AOL, Yahoo and Microsoft: the Lycos network sits just 100,000 monthly visitors behind Microsoft (Relevant Knowledge and Media Metrix);
-- Owner of the two fastest growing domains (Tripod and Angelfire) of the top 10 Web sites, with double the growth of the next competitor (Media Metrix);
-- The largest online community with 3.1 million registered members: 1.3 million on Angelfire and 1.8 million on Tripod;
-- The fastest growing online community in terms of audience reach and unique visitors: Tripod grew 193% in 1998, Angelfire grew 189% in 1998 (Relevant Knowledge);
-- Owner of three top 10 Web sites. No other company owns more than one of the top 10;
-- Owner of the third largest directory, WhoWhere, and the only directory of the top three to grow in 1998 with a 15 percent increase in reach; and
-- Home to the rapidly expanding co-branded e-mail service, MailCity, which has grown from 1.9 million to 9.3 million registered users in 1998 alone.
WhoWhere offers a complete line of Web-based applications, including its leading directory services, popular MailCity e-mail service with 9.3 million registered users and angelfire.com, a leading Web community with more than 1.3 million members. These features make the Lycos network the most complete hub, providing patented search, comprehensive directories, personal homepages, e-mail, loyal and diverse communities and popular shopping functions. Lycos plans to continue to support WhoWhere's highly successful co-branding model to license its services to other companies aiming for increased site traffic and brand affinity. "By acquiring WhoWhere and bolstering our position as a premier media company, Lycos has leapfrogged our competitors and set the standard for portals," said Bob Davis, president and CEO of Lycos, Inc. "A strong online community is essential to providing visitors with a rich Web experience and is a key differentiator of the Lycos network. We expect our comm!
unity foundation will continue to drive extraordinary user loyalty and growth, making us the first choice for advertisers and commerce partners." "As part of the Lycos network we can now offer our users and partners a full range of services," said Dale Fuller, CEO of WhoWhere. "This alliance also gives us the resources necessary to continue the dramatic growth we experienced in the past year." WhoWhere will continue to operate from its Mountain View, Calif., office as a business unit of Lycos. Fuller is now a Lycos vice president and general manager of the WhoWhere division.
Community-oriented Hub
This acquisition is a continuation of Lycos' community focus, which began earlier in the year with the purchase of Tripod. Since the acquisition, Tripod has nearly doubled to 1.8 million registered members. This illustrates the benefit of combining search, directory and community in one network. With the addition of Angelfire, Lycos now owns two of the top three community sites (as well as three of the top 10 Web sites,) reinforcing its position as a dominant Web community provider. The Angelfire user base, which has grown dramatically in 1998 to 1.3 million members, neatly complements Tripod in terms of demographics and areas of interest.
WhoWhere's Communication Applications WhoWhere's suite of communication applications for the Internet and other open networks enable people and businesses worldwide to seamlessly find, communicate and collaborate with each other.
Free Web-based E-mail WhoWhere's e-mail product, MailCity, offers universal e-mail that is accessible from any computer with an Internet connection. MailCity features basic e-mail functionality, plus mailbox merge, address blocking, anti-spam, multimedia capabilities, office functions, signature options and much more.
Free Personal Home Pages WhoWhere's personal home page application provides individuals and businesses with an opportunity to create and publish their own personal Web presence under the Angelfire brand. Angelfire, with approximately 100,000 new members each month, was recently named the fastest growing site on the Web (Media Metrix). Development tools and editors are provided to assist users in the development of a unique site.
Free Directory Services WhoWhere's directories offer a variety of comprehensive services that make it easy to find people and businesses on the Internet. The directories include e-mail Address Lookup, Communities Advanced Search, Phone and Address Lookup, Personal Home Page Lookup, Companies Online, EDGAR filings and People in U.S. Government.
Co-branding Program Using WhoWhere's co-branding model, Lycos plans to continue to offer its services to major brands, ISPs, community-based organizations and affinity groups. This unique program helps companies build or expand their online communities, further extend their brand reach and enhance the relationship with their users. Not only will Lycos create powerful Web-based community-building applications, but it will also provide the knowledge, experience and expertise to assist in marketing these services to end-users. Lycos will work closely with individual partners to develop aggressive marketing programs that promote their branded applications. A sampling of companies that presently utilize WhoWhere services include Barnes and Noble, DejaNews, iVillage, Mindspring, PC World and Ziff Davis.
About WhoWhere (http://www.whowhere.com) WhoWhere, based in Mountain View, Calif., is a leading online communications guide and provider of Web-based applications that enable people and businesses worldwide to seamlessly find, communicate and collaborate with each other. The company's online directories include free access to telephone listings, e-mail addresses, personal home pages, and business URLs. WhoWhere's suite of network applications currently includes e-mail, personal home pages and directory services. Using a co-branding model, WhoWhere licenses these applications to major brands, community-based organizations and affinity groups that want to increase site traffic and brand affinity. WhoWhere can be reached online at whowhere.com.
About Lycos, Inc. (http://www.lycos.com) Founded in 1995, Lycos, Inc. (NASDAQ:LCOS) is a New Generation Online Service that combines all aspects of community, leading Web navigation resources and cutting-edge business and consumer e-commerce solutions. Located at lycos.com, Lycos - "Your Personal Internet Guide" - is the hub of the Lycos network dedicated to helping each individual user locate, retrieve and manage information tailored to his or her personal interests. Through its acquisitions of Tripod, Inc. and WhoWhere, Inc. in 1998, the Lycos network has become the most full-featured community-oriented online service on the Internet. Today, the Lycos network includes lycos.com, tripod.com, angelfire.com, whowhere.com and mailcity.com. Headquartered near Boston in Waltham, Mass., Lycos maintains U.S. offices in New York City, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Los Angeles and San Francisco. International offices are located in Germany, Italy, France, Japan, the UK, Spain and The!
Netherlands. Note to media: There will be a conference call with Bob Davis and Dale Fuller at 11 a.m. EDT today, August 11, 1998. Contact Ross Levanto at Schwartz Communications, 781-684-0770 x6518, for more information.
1998 Lycos, Inc. - Lycos(R) is a registered trademark of Carnegie Mellon University. All other product or service marks mentioned herein are those of Lycos or their respective owners. All rights reserved.
CONTACT: Lycos, Inc. Schwartz Communications
Phil Fougere Ross Levanto
781.370.2684 781.684.0770 x6518
pfougere@lycos.com rlevanto@schwartz-pr.com
or
TSI
Rick Loughery
650-938-4400
Rick.loughery@mailcity.com
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