VVTV...may be a good play today:
Tuesday March 9, 8:02 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: NBC, GE Equity and ValueVision International,
Inc.
ValueVision, NBC and GE Equity
Enter Into Strategic Alliance
NBC and GE Capital Acquire 19.9% Equity Stake in ValueVision
International, Inc.
Companies Will Jointly Explore Internet and Electronic Commerce
Opportunities
NEW YORK, March 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Today NBC, GE Equity (NYSE: GE - news) and
ValueVision International, Inc. (Nasdaq: VVTV - news) entered into a strategic alliance designed to
help increase the cable distribution of ValueVision's television home-shopping network and to jointly
explore the development of future Internet and Electronic Commerce opportunities.
Founded in 1991, ValueVision is a leading electronic and print media direct marketing company. It
operates the third largest television home-shopping network in the United States.
NBC has agreed to be responsible for all of ValueVision's cable and affiliate relations. ValueVision
will also utilize NBC's creative and technical expertise to increase the quality of its programming.
Additionally, NBC will take a leadership role in assisting ValueVision with a redesign of its current
Internet shopping Web site (vvtv.com). NBC and ValueVision will explore opportunities to link their
various Internet properties as part of the new alliance.
Over the next year, ValueVision and NBC will seek to rebrand ValueVision's television
home-shopping network in conjunction with an Internet portal.
NBC and GE Equity have jointly agreed to purchase 19.9% of ValueVision for approximately $56
million in the form of preferred stock and common stock purchase warrants. As part of the
transaction, NBC and GE Equity will each receive one seat on ValueVision's board. NBC and GE
Equity have an option to increase their shared equity stake to 39.9%, subject to ValueVision
shareholder approval. Additional financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
This acquisition between ValueVision and NBC/GE Equity marks the first time that a major
broadcast network has taken a significant equity stake in a television home-shopping network with
the potential for a significant electronic commerce partnership through interactive cable boxes and
Internet portals.
''We're putting the NBC Cable Distribution team to work to help ValueVision increase its
distribution,'' said Bob Wright, President and CEO, NBC. ''This move also positions us for the
future as transactional abilities become more and more important in the world of convergence.''
''Our investment in ValueVision supports our continuing electronic commerce investment strategy,''
said Jeff Coats, Managing Director, GE Equity, ''And we are proud to support ValueVision at this
exciting time in their development. They complement GE Equity's growing electronic commerce
portfolio.''
''Today's partnership announcement positions ValueVision to become a principal player in the
evolving convergence and development of electronic commerce.'' said Gene McCaffrey, Chairman,
Chief Executive Officer and President of ValueVision. ''The combination of the strength and
credibility of GE and NBC, increased cable distribution, and innovative entertainment program
development position our companies to lead in the area of electronic commerce,'' he added.
Added Tom Rogers, President, NBC Cable and Executive Vice President, NBC: ''NBC has a
proven track record for growing distribution of cable networks with MSNBC and CNBC -- we
hope to help ValueVision strengthen its position in the cable television world. As the TV and PC
converge, access to electronic revenue streams like home shopping through cable and Internet will
become extremely valuable. This partnership strategically positions NBC and ValueVision for this
future opportunity.''
ValueVision International, Inc. is an integrated electronic and print media direct marketing company,
and operates a television home-shopping network and multi-book catalog operation. The Company
offers live programming 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. Approximately 21.8 million homes are
able to receive ValueVision's programming of which approximately 10.6 million homes are on a
full-time basis and another 11.2 million are on a part-time basis. In addition, the Company operates
several direct mail operations and an Internet shopping Web site (www.vvtv.com). The Company's
shares are traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol VVTV. For additional information
on ValueVision please visit the Company's Web site at vvtv.com or by fax, at no cost,
dial 1-800-PRO-INFO, and enter code VVTV.
NBC is a global media company with broadly diverse holdings. NBC owns and operates the NBC
Television Network as well as thirteen television stations. In the United States, NBC owns CNBC,
operates MSNBC in partnership with Microsoft, and maintains equity interests in Arts &
Entertainment, The History Channel, and Rainbow Programming Holdings, a leading media company
with a wide array of entertainment and sports cable channels. Internationally, NBC owns and
operates CNBC: A Service of NBC and Dow Jones in partnership with Dow Jones & Company in
Europe and Asia. Together with National Geographic Television, NBC owns National Geographic
Channels Worldwide (NGCW). In partnership with BSkyB, NGCW operates the National
Geographic Channel in Europe. Its sister programming service, National Geographic Channel Asia, is
jointly owned by NBC and National Geographic. NBC also operates NBC Europe in partnership
with Deutsche Fernsehnachrichten Agentur. NBC is the network leader in interactive and new media
businesses. Among its holdings are NBC.com, NBC Interactive Neighborhood and VideoSeeker.
The company also has an equity stake in Snap, the Internet portal service operated in partnership
with CNET.
GE Equity is the private equity arm of GE Capital. GE Capital, with assets of more than US$300
billion, is a global, diversified financial services company with 28 specialized businesses. A wholly
owned subsidiary of General Electric Company, GE Capital, based in Stamford, CT, provides
equipment management, mid-market and specialized financing, specialty insurance and a variety of
consumer services, such as car leasing, home mortgages and credit cards, to businesses and
individuals around the world. GE is a diversified manufacturing, technology and services company
with operations worldwide.
(Note: The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a ''safe harbor'' for
forward-looking statements. Certain information included in this news release contains statements that
are forward-looking, such as statements relating to increased cable home distribution and
development of electronic commerce and programming opportunities. There are certain important
factors, such as competitive pressure on the maintenance of cable home distribution and development
of Internet and electronic commerce opportunities that could cause results to differ materially from
those forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve
risks and uncertainty, including the possibility that cable distribution will not increase, that
development of Internet and electronic commerce opportunities will not be successful, that
shareholders will not approve issuance of the option to increase the equity stake to 39.9% and that
other alliances may not result in increased revenues and earnings. For more information on the
potential factors that could affect ValueVision's financial results, investors should refer to
ValueVision's recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including ValueVision's
annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K.)
SOURCE: NBC, GE Equity and ValueVision International, Inc.
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