IAC/InterActiveCorp Announces eLong Warrant Exercise
December 16 2004 - 12:01AM
PR Newswire (US)
IAC/InterActiveCorp Announces eLong Warrant Exercise IAC Increases
Its Stake in eLong to 52%; Aggregate Investment of Approximately
$167 Million NEW YORK, Dec. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI) today announced that it has
exercised a warrant to purchase approximately 17.4 million shares
of high-vote ordinary stock of eLong, Inc. (NASDAQ:LONG), a leading
online travel service provider in China, for an estimated cash
purchase price of approximately $108 million. The number of shares
and purchase price are subject to adjustment following exercise
pursuant to the terms of the related warrant agreement. IAC
acquired the warrant in connection with its initial investment in
eLong in August 2004, in which IAC invested $58.7 million. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20031105/NYW076LOGO ) Following
the completion of this purchase, which is expected to occur in
January 2005, IAC will own approximately 52% of the outstanding
capital stock of eLong (on a fully diluted basis), representing
approximately 96% of the total voting power of eLong. IAC's
investment in eLong will continue to be managed by IAC Travel --
Asia Pacific, a division of IAC Travel, and its financial results
will be consolidated with those of IAC, as part of IAC Travel,
following the completion of the purchase. As a result of this
exercise, IAC has the right to designate four additional members
for appointment to eLong's Board of Directors. The four IAC
designees appointed are: Mike Doyle, Chief Financial Officer, IAC
Travel -- Asia Pacific; Dermot Halpin, Managing Director, Expedia
UK; Cameron Jones, Director, Hotels and Destination Services, IAC
Travel -- Asia Pacific; and Arthur Hoffman, Managing Director,
Expedia Australia. Following these appointments, six of the 11
members of eLong's Board of Directors will be IAC designees. "eLong
is leading a dramatic transformation in the way that travel is
planned and purchased in China," said Barney Harford, President,
IAC Travel -- Asia Pacific. "We are delighted to be deepening our
relationship with eLong, and we are excited by the opportunity this
provides us to embrace the growth potential of the Chinese travel
market. China represents an $87 billion travel and tourism market
opportunity today, forecast to grow to more than $300 billion by
2014*." About eLong, Inc. Founded in 1999, eLong is an independent
travel service company headquartered in Beijing with a national
presence across China. The Company uses web-based distribution
technologies and a 24-hour nationwide call center to provide
consumers with consolidated travel information and the ability to
access hotel reservations at discounted rates at over 2,600 hotels
in major cities across China. The Company also offers air ticketing
and other travel related services, such as rental cars, vacation
packages and corporate travel services. eLong operates the websites
http://www.elong.com/ and http://www.elong.net/. About
IAC/InterActiveCorp IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI) operates
leading and diversified businesses in sectors being transformed by
the internet, online and offline... our mission is to harness the
power of interactivity to make daily life easier and more
productive for people all over the world. IAC consists of IAC
Travel, which includes Expedia, Hotels.com, Hotwire, Interval
International, Classic Custom Vacations and Expedia Corporate
Travel; HSN; Ticketmaster, which oversees ReserveAmerica;
Match.com; Precision Response Corporation; IAC Local and Media
Services, which includes Citysearch, Evite, Entertainment
Publications, TripAdvisor and ServiceMagic; IAC Financial Services
and Real Estate, which includes LendingTree, RealEstate.com,
GetSmart, and Domania; and IAC Interactive Development which
includes ZeroDegrees. http://iac.com/ Contact Information: IAC
Corporate Communications Deborah Roth (212) 314-7254 or David
Dennis (425) 679-7430 IAC Investor Relations Roger Clark / Lauren
Porat (212) 314-7400 *Source: Personal Travel, Tourism and Business
Travel estimates, 2004 Travel & Tourism Economic Research
Report, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Safe Harbor
Statement Under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act Of
1995 This press release contains "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. These forward-looking statements include statements
relating to IAC's and eLong's anticipated financial performance,
business prospects, new developments and similar matters, and/or
statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words
"believes," "could," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates,"
"intends," "plans," "projects," "seeks," or similar expressions.
These forward-looking statements are based on management's current
expectations and assumptions, which are inherently subject to
uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are
difficult to predict. Actual results may differ materially from
those suggested by the forward-looking statements due to a variety
of factors, including changes in business, political, and economic
conditions due to the threat of future terrorist activity, actions
and initiatives by current and potential competitors, the effect of
current and future legislation or regulation, the ability to expand
our reach into international markets, and certain other additional
factors described in IAC's and eLong's respective filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Other unknown or unpredictable
factors also could have material adverse effects on IAC's and
eLong's future results, performance or achievements. In light of
these risks, uncertainties, assumptions and factors, the forward-
looking events discussed in this press release may not occur. You
are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date stated, or if no date
is stated, as of the date of this press release. IAC is not under
any obligation and does not intend to make publicly available any
update or other revisions to any of the forward-looking statements
contained in this press release to reflect circumstances existing
after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence
of future events even if experience or future events make it clear
that any expected results expressed or implied by those
forward-looking statements will not be realized.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20031105/NYW076LOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: IAC/InterActiveCorp
CONTACT: Deborah Roth, +1-212-314-7254, David Dennis,
+1-425-679-7430, Investors: Roger Clark, or Lauren Porat,
+1-212-314-7400 Web site: http://www.iac.com/ http://www.elong.com/
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