(PR NEWSWIRE) Excite@Home Announces Acquisition of iMALL and Strategic E-C
Excite@Home Announces Acquisition of iMALL and Strategic E-Commerce Agreement
With First Data
Deal Advances Online Shopping for Consumers, and Provides End-To-End Commerce
Solution for Businesses
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. and ATLANTA, July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Excite@Home
(Nasdaq: ATHM), a global media company, today announced that it has signed a
definitive agreement to acquire iMALL, Inc. (Nasdaq: IMAL), a leading provider
of fully integrated, "one-stop" e-commerce solutions. In the merger,
Excite@Home will issue approximately 8.3 million shares of Excite@Home stock,
having a value of approximately $425 million and also will assume iMALL's
outstanding options and warrants. In addition, Excite @Home and First Data
Corporation (NYSE: FDC) subsidiary First Data Merchant Services, a leading
electronic commerce payments solution provider, today announced an agreement
to enable merchants to quickly establish an online commerce storefront with
transaction capabilities and access to Excite's millions of daily users.
(Photo: newscom.com )
These two agreements provide Excite@Home with industry-leading momentum in
adding merchants to the Excite Shopping Service for consumers. For
businesses, the First Data/iMALL solution will be marketed through @Work,
Excite@Home's business-to-business division which provides Internet access and
hosting solutions, to various Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) resellers
and other third parties that want to offer their e-commerce services for sale.
First Data gains the opportunity to begin generating enormous consumer traffic
for its merchant alliance partners' and financial institution customers'
online merchants. Excite@Home and First Data will also explore opportunities
to develop and cross-promote additional products and services in a preferred
marketing relationship. This relationship has the potential to give
Excite@Home in-store exposure to a base of more than two million merchant
locations and First Data clients' merchants exposure to Excite's 22 million
unique visitors each month.
The three-way relationship leverages iMALL's unique commerce capabilities,
which make it extremely easy for merchants to set up an online storefront, and
First Data's electronic commerce payment solutions and processing technologies
to enable merchants to put up electronic storefronts which will enrich the
Excite Shopping Service. These services, along with Excite's popularity with
consumers, position Excite@Home and First Data at the forefront of offering
merchants commerce solutions on the Web.
Excite@Home and First Data Leverage Assets
First Data Merchant Services, which processes and settles more than
5 billion credit and debit card transactions annually, currently has an
11% ownership stake in iMALL. First Data will work with Excitc@Home to market
its new e-commerce solution to First Data's financial institution clients and
their respective merchants. Merchants using the new commerce solution on the
Excite portal service will automatically have all back-end banking services
integrated, including merchant application processing and transaction gateway,
set up in hours rather than weeks. As merchants are additionally enrolled
into Excite@Home's searchable directory of products and stores, the Excite
Shopping service will have one of the largest shopping offerings for consumers
online.
Inside the Excite@Home Network, this new solution will be leveraged in two
ways:
The Business-To-Business offering: The new electronic commerce solution
will be offered to partners through @Work. For small businesses, the First
Data/iMALL solution will continue to be marketed through third parties that
want to offer their e-commerce services for sale.
The Business-To-Consumer offering: The suite of electronic commerce
services will serve the business-to-consumer market through the Excite portal.
Merchants can benefit from the significant reach of the popular Excite
Shopping Service (http://www.excite.com/shopping). As First Data's financial
institution partners begin promoting the new solution, and merchants begin
establishing Web storefronts with thousands of offerings, the Excite Shopping
Service is well positioned to become a premier online shopping area with an
unparalleled breadth and depth of both merchants and products. These online
merchants will be supported through promotion and Web advertising designed to
generate traffic and increase sales activities for their sites.
Scaling E-Commerce for all Merchants With iMALL
Excite@Home and First Data will offer merchants one of the easiest and
fastest solutions to become an online retailer. The joint e-commerce solution
offers merchants a comprehensive package of electronic commerce tools to get
online and start selling the same day, including: Web-site development,
online shopping carts, a merchant account, sales tax and shipping
calculations, secure payment processing and, most important, traffic-building
and promotions opportunities.
"We view this agreement with Excite@Home as a natural extension of and
terrific enhancement to our Internet commerce strategy. Our clients'
merchants will benefit from the enormous traffic that the Excite service
generates, and our financial institution partners will have an even more
compelling proposition to enhance existing customer relationships as well as
attract new merchant customers. This agreement reinforces our leadership
position in providing e-commerce payment solutions, and we see significant
opportunities to leverage this relationship both today and for the long term,"
said Ric Duques, chairman and chief executive officer of First Data
Corporation.
"Through our acquisition of iMALL and our new relationship with First
Data, we have in a single step become a leader in offering the most complete
end-to-end e-commerce solutions to merchants who want to become online
retailers -- a huge trend in American commerce," said George Bell, president,
Excite@Home. "The combined solution gives us critical mass to bring together
online buyers and sellers with new services for our business-to-business
efforts -- benefiting our @Work division, and business-to-consumer
transactions. By becoming the best solution for merchants, we attract
thousands of stores and products that will make the Excite shopping services
the best choice for consumers looking to buy online."
The Acquisition of iMALL
Excite@Home and iMALL have executed a definitive agreement for the
acquisition of iMALL. Under that agreement, each shareholder of iMALL will
receive 0.46 shares of Excite@Home Series A Common Stock for each share of
iMALL Common Stock. The transaction is subject to customary closing
conditions, including approval by the shareholders of iMALL. The transaction
is expected to close in the 4th quarter of 1999. As part of the agreement,
First Data, Richard Rosenblatt and certain other iMALL shareholders who, in
the aggregate, hold over 40% of the outstanding shares of iMALL, have agreed
to vote in favor of the transaction. After the closing of the acquisition,
iMALL will operate as an independent subsidiary of Excite@Home reporting to
its @Work division.
"Offering a simple turn-key solution is critical to getting stores online
and is the foundation of our business strategy. Joining the Excite@Home
family is an exciting next step in the life of our company," said Richard
Rosenblatt, CEO, iMALL, Inc. "We are delighted to deliver this opportunity to
iMALL shareholders. iMALL set the standard with e-commerce solutions that
enabled merchants to set-up shop on the Web in less than a day, and now
together with the popular Excite Shopping Service and Excite@Home's @Work
division, we will deliver huge benefits to both merchants and consumers."
About iMALL
iMALL, Inc. is a leading provider of fully integrated, "one-stop"
e-commerce solutions. iMALL's unique e-commerce solutions and integrated
process allow businesses to create fully commerce enabled Web sites or add
transaction capabilities to their existing ones, establish "Internet ready"
merchant accounts online and process customer orders securely through iMALL's
proprietary payment gateway. To help increase businesses' online sales,
iMALL's popular shopping portals and sophisticated shopper services are
integrated into iMALL's e-commerce solutions. iMALL's e-commerce solution,
merchantstuff.com, created jointly with First Data Merchant Services, is
located at merchantstuff.com. iMALL's shopping portals are located
at imall.com and stuff.com. For additional information,
visit iMALL's corporate site at imallinc.com.
About First Data
Atlanta-based First Data Corporation is a leader in payment services,
electronic commerce and transaction management products and services. First
Data and its principal operating units process the information that allows
millions of consumers to pay for goods and services by credit, debit or
stored-value card at the point of sale, over the Internet, by check or by wire
transfer. First Data Merchant Services Corporation (FDMS), a wholly owned
subsidiary of First Data Corporation, is one of the nation's leading providers
of electronic commerce solutions for hundreds of financial institutions and
two million merchant locations. For further information, visit
firstdata.com.
About Excite@Home
Excite@Home is a global media company based in Redwood City, Calif.
Through the company's narrowband portal, Excite (www.excite.com), and
broadband services, @Home and @Work, the company uniquely offers consumers
content and interactive services across both narrowband and broadband, and
advertisers highly targeted marketing solutions across all platforms of
delivery. Leveraging the high-speed, always-on attributes of cable,
Excite@Home empowers unique multimedia applications that go beyond current Web
experiences. The company will combine the Excite brand -- one of the best
known names on the Internet with 70 percent recognition among Web users --
with @Home's broad distribution, a worldwide footprint of more than 65 million
cable homes, to deliver on its vision of "All Band, All Device, All the Time."
This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning
of Section 27A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the safe harbors created by
those sections. These forward-looking statements include statements related
to: the successful introduction of an e-commerce solution that will enable
merchants to quickly establish through the Excite portal an online commerce
storefront with transaction capabilities; the benefits provided to online
merchants that adopt this solution; the breath of exposure for this solution
that will be generated by the parties marketing and promotional efforts; the
growth in the Excite Shopping Service following the introduction of this
solution; and Excite@Home's emergence as a leader in offering the most
complete end-to-end e-commerce solutions to merchants. Actual results may
differ materially due to a number of risks. In particular, the transactions
described in this press release are contingent on the satisfaction of
customary closing conditions and the approval of iMall's shareholders, and
there can be no assurance that such transactions will be completed.
Additional risks include numerous technological, operational and financial
challenges associated with developing and deploying the e-commerce solutions
described in this press release; the parties ability to successfully combine
their respective areas of expertise; the success of the parties' marketing and
promotion programs in building demand for their e-commerce solution; and the
attractiveness of competitive e-commerce offerings. The matters discussed in
this press release also involve risks and uncertainties described from time to
time in Excite@Home's, iMall's and First Data Corporation's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Excite@Home, iMall and First Data
Corporation assume no obligation to update the forward-looking information
contained in this press release.
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