Corel acquires GraphicCorp
NEWS RELEASE TRANSMITTED BY CANADIAN CORPORATE NEWS
FOR: COREL CORPORATION
TSE SYMBOL: COS
NASDAQ SYMBOL: COSFF
APRIL 19, 1999
Corel acquires GraphicCorp to Become Leading Provider of
Electronic Clipart and Images to Software and Hardware
Companies
OTTAWA, ONTARIO--Microsoft, IMSI, GeoCities, Xoom, EarthWeb among
customers; collection a key element of Corel's Web and e-commerce
solutions
Corel Corporation (NASDAQ: COSFF, TSE: COS) today becomes one of
the leading suppliers of clipart, photographs and Web images to
software publishers and hardware manufacturers with the purchase
of the assets of California-based GraphicCorp.
GraphicCorp has over two million Web images, Web animations,
clipart images, photographs and downloadable applications in its
collection and is acknowledged in the industry as the world's
leading supplier of such OEM content. This collection adds to
Corel's vast collection of clipart and electronic images, and
puts Corel firmly in the top tier of digital content suppliers.
"Content is king and with this incredible collection of
electronic clipart and images, Corel will bring unparalleled
value to its customers and OEM partners through numerous unique
and tailor-made offerings," said Dr. Michael Cowpland, president
and chief executive officer of Corel Corporation. "This is an
incredibly powerful collection that will be a cornerstone of our
Web-based and e-commerce activity."
According to the latest PC Data research figures for February
1999, GraphicCorp content was licensed for use in 61 percent of
the top 100 consumer graphics, clipart collections in the retail
market. Prior to the GraphicCorp acquisition according to PC
Data, Corel was already the fourth largest developer of consumer
graphics and clipart packages.
Corel is committed to maintaining relationships with
GraphicCorp's customers and industry partners including Microsoft
(NASDAQ: MSFT), IMSI (NASDAQ: IMSI), GeoCities (NASDAQ: GCTY),
XOOM.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: XMCM), EarthWeb Inc (NASDAQ: EWBX), GT
Interactive Software Corp. (NASDAQ: GTIS), Expert Software, Inc.
(NASDAQ: XPRT), The Learning Company (NASDAQ: TLC), Epson, and
over 200 others.
Corel is immediately offering 10,000 free vector images and
100,000 free Web images through its www.clipartdownload.com Web
site and www.corel.com Web site as a way of demonstrating the
quality and variety of this tremendous collection. A paid
subscription-based model will be available shortly.
"I am excited to team up with the leader in PC graphics
application software in order to expand our distribution and
reach millions of new customers," said GraphicCorp president and
chief executive officer Jeff Bianco. "As part of our evolution to
a Web-based provider of clip art, photos and Web images, we feel
Corel is the right company to take over and reach millions of
Internet graphics users."
GraphicCorp has worked with 150 graphic designers around the
world from studios in the United States, Canada, India and
Ukraine.
Mr. Bianco said he is confident that GraphicCorp's existing
customer base of software and hardware OEMs will be well- served
by Corel.
"Becoming a part of Corel will expand that base due to Corel's
many strong OEM relationships," said Mr. Bianco. "We also think
Corel can use its expertise as the leader in PC graphics software
to now become a leader in Internet and Web-based software."
Corel will acquire GraphicCorp for a combination of US $4 million
cash payable over a six month period and one million shares of
Corel stock. Corel is underwriting the value of the stock at US
$6.30 per share by September 30, 1999, bringing the total value
of the deal to US $10.3 million.
The acquisition will operate as GraphicCorp, a division of Corel.
Mr. Bianco and Michael Walker, GraphicCorp's vice president of
business and legal affairs, will be working with Corel to
transition the business over the next six months.
Corel Corporation
Corel Corporation is an internationally recognized developer of
award-winning graphics and business productivity applications.
Development of market-leading products such as the CorelDRAW(r)
line of graphics applications and the Corel(r) WordPerfect(r)
Suite of business tools is continually evolving to meet the
demands of the corporate, retail and academic markets. Committed
to performance, compatibility, value and open standards, Corel
develops products for the Windows(r), Macintosh(r), UNIX(r),
Linux(r) and Java(tm) platforms. Corel's common stock trades on
The NASDAQ Stock Market(sm) under the symbol COSFF and on the
Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol COS. For more information
visit Corel's Web site at www.corel.com.
GraphicCorp
GraphicCorp is the registered trade name of the IA Users Club
Inc. of Los Angeles, California. The IA Users Club Inc. is a
privately held company founded in 1986.
Corel, WordPerfect, CorelDRAW and the Go Further logo are
trademarks or registered trademarks of Corel Corporation or Corel
Corporation Limited. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus
Torvalds. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group. All
other product and company names are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective companies.
-30-
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Corel Corporation
John Hladkowicz
Investor Relations Contact
(613) 728-0826 ext. 1194
E-mail: johnh@corel.ca
Website: www.corel.ca
or
Corel Corporation (Canada)
Nicole Sanford
Press Contact
(613) 728-0826 ext. 5046
E-mail: nicoles@corel.ca
or
Corel Corporation (US)
Catherine Hughes
Press Contact
(613) 728-0826 ext. 1659
E-mail: catherineh@corel.ca
INDUSTRY: CPR
SUBJECT: NWS
|
