Lycos Sells Quote.com to Interactive Data Corporation for $30 Million
Transaction Allows Lycos to Focus on Core Strategy Moving Forward
WALTHAM, Mass. - Feb. 2, 2006 - Lycos, Inc. (www.lycos.com), a media destination for creators and consumers of quality content, yesterday announced the sale of its finance site Quote.com® (www.quote.com) to Interactive Data Corporation (NYSE: IDC), a leading global provider of financial market data and analytic tools to institutional investors, active traders and individual investors.
On February 1, 2006, Interactive Data entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Quote.com and related assets from Lycos, Inc. for $30.0 million in cash. The acquisition is expected to close during the first quarter, subject to customary closing conditions including governmental approvals. Upon completion of the transaction, the assets of Quote.com will be operated as part of Interactive Data's eSignal division.
"Quote.com has become an industry leader in providing premium subscription-based charting and analysis tools, and considered to be one of the leading brands of the Lycos Network," said Alfred Tolle, chief
executive officer, Lycos, Inc. "Over the past year, however, we have evolved our business to focus on digital content creation, as a destination for people to create, store and market content. It became evident that Quote did not fit this strategy and we began looking at a suitable, qualified partner for Quote."
Since joining the company in 2005, Tolle has defined a new direction for Lycos, as a digital media platform for content creators, and a destination for consumers with appetites for all types of content, from professional to amateur, to niche content and beyond. "The Lycos brand continues to resonate with millions of web users all over the world, and my goal has been to focus on our assets and to reinvigorate the Lycos brand," Tolle added.
Lycos' digital publishing strategy focuses on the core strengths of the company, specifically award-winning, original content from Wired News (www.wired.com), premier web publishing and hosting services and blogging tools from Tripod (http://www.tripod.com) and Angelfire (www.angelfire.com), and its recently launched social networking platform, Lycos Planet (http://planet.lycos.com). Planet is the first imported product from Daum, a leading internet portal in Korea and parent company of Lycos, Inc., adapted for the U.S. audience on Lycos. Since its launch in October, a new Planet is created every minute on Lycos, with more than 1,000 new registered users joining Planet each day.
In the coming weeks, Lycos will introduce its new games destination-Lycos Games-and enhance its recently relaunched Lycos Entertainment and Lycos Music destinations, with exclusive content and service partnerships, designed to revolutionize the way people create and consume content online.
About Lycos, Inc.
Lycos, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Daum Communications, Corp., the leading Internet company in Korea and a leader throughout the Asian markets. Lycos, Inc. has in its portfolio a broad range of highly rated, popular specialty sites including Lycos.com, Angelfire.com, Hotbot.com, Matchmaker.com, Quote.com, Tripod.com and Wired.com. Other Lycos products include Raging Bull, Lycos Mail and Gamesville. Lycos was acquired by Korean Daum Communications Corp. in September 2004 and has its US headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts. Daum Communications Corp. is traded on the KOSDAQ: 035720, www.daum.net.
About Interactive Data Corporation
Interactive Data Corporation is a leading global provider of securities pricing, financial information, and analytic tools to institutional and individual investors. The Company supplies time-sensitive pricing (including evaluated pricing), dividend, corporate action, and descriptive information for more than 3.5 million securities traded around the world, including hard-to-value instruments. Many of the world's best-known financial services and software companies subscribe to the Company's services in support of their trading, analysis, portfolio management, and valuation activities.
Interactive Data Corporation is headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts. Through its branded businesses, FT Interactive Data, ComStock, CMS BondEdge, and eSignal, Interactive Data Corporation has approximately 2,100 employees in offices located in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Pearson plc (NYSE: PSO), an international media company, whose businesses include the Financial Times Group, Pearson Education, and the Penguin Group, owns approximately 62 percent of the outstanding common stock of Interactive Data Corporation.
The FT Interactive Data business includes FT Interactive Data Corporation, a Delaware corporation. The ComStock business includes ComStock, Inc., a New York corporation
About eSignal
The eSignal division (www.esignal.com) of Interactive Data Corporation is a leading global provider of financial and business information to professional and active individual investors. Building on a 20-year legacy of delivering time-sensitive financial information, eSignal provides streaming, real-time market data, news and analytics. eSignal's suite of products includes eSignal®, Advanced GET™, QuoTrek®, FutureSource®, MarketCenter™, and MarketCenter LIVE™.
©2006 Lycos, Inc. Lycos® is a registered trademark of Carnegie Mellon University. All other product or service marks mentioned herein are those of Terra Networks, S.A., Lycos, Inc. or their respective owners. All rights reserved.
Contacts:
Kathy O'Reilly
Lycos
781.370.2700
koreilly@lycos-inc.com
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