Interactive Data to Acquire Lycos Inc.'s Quote.com; Transaction Will Broaden eSignal's Portfolio of Streaming, Real-Time Market
February 01 2006 - 4:49PM
Business Wire
Interactive Data Corporation (NYSE: IDC), a leading global provider
of financial market data and analytic tools to institutional
investors, active traders and individual investors, today announced
a definitive agreement to acquire Quote.com(R) and related assets
from Lycos(R), 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. Quote.com,
also known as the Lycos Finance division, markets four distinct
offerings that deliver financial content and trading tools to
active traders and individual investors. These include the
subscription-based QCharts(TM) and LiveCharts(TM) services that
provide real-time streaming data and decision support tools to help
active traders formulate investment strategies, as well as
Quote.com, a financial news and analysis website, and Raging
Bull(TM), an online investment community and message board site.
Upon completion of the transaction, the assets of Quote.com will be
operated as part of Interactive Data's eSignal division. "The
acquisition of Quote.com represents an important step in expanding
eSignal's capabilities, content and services," said Stuart Clark,
president and chief executive officer of Interactive Data
Corporation. "With the addition of the Quote.com assets, eSignal
will deliver a broader suite of services to an even wider range of
active trader customers and possess an increasingly valuable family
of financial portals. We believe that the combination of our
acquisition of the Quote.com assets, our December 2005 acquisition
of IS.Teledata AG, and the product development initiatives now in
place across our organization positions us to accelerate our
revenue growth in 2006 and enhance our profitability in 2007." The
addition of LiveCharts and QCharts will complement and augment
eSignal's existing portfolio of streaming, real-time market data
platforms and analytical tools, and bring more than 14,500 direct
subscribers to eSignal. As of September 30, 2005, eSignal reported
approximately 46,000 direct subscription terminals. The combined
set of websites, which will include eSignal's recently launched
MarketCenter.com and FutureSource.com, as well as Quote.com and
RagingBull.com, generate an aggregate of 196 million page views per
month. Interactive Data anticipates this will position eSignal to
build a growing new revenue stream through online advertising.
"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, Lycos has evolved our business to focus on digital content
creation, as a destination for people to create, store and market
content. Going forward, it became evident that Quote.com did not
fit in with this strategy and we began looking at a better fit for
Quote.com. We believe that Quote.com will enhance and complement
Interactive Data's eSignal portfolio of offerings, and that this
transaction will help ensure that Quote.com's customers continue to
receive a high level of service." "This acquisition will help
eSignal achieve its goal of becoming the most comprehensive,
flexible and easy-to-use financial information resource for active
traders," said Chuck Thompson, president of Interactive Data's
eSignal division. "The addition of the LiveCharts and QCharts
services will further expand eSignal's portfolio of services and
tools, thereby enabling us to better address the unique needs and
skill levels of both novice and more experienced traders who are
seeking lower priced alternatives. At the same time, by uniting the
financial websites from Quote.com and eSignal, we can create a
compelling online destination for the millions of people who rely
on the Internet for global financial markets information and the
advertisers that target this audience. By taking advantage of our
existing infrastructure and resources, we believe that we can
cost-effectively and rapidly enhance the content and capabilities
of these acquired services and websites." Quote.com currently
employs approximately 30 people. The majority of these people are
based in Waltham, Massachusetts, with the remainder in Santa Clara,
California. David Kim, Quote.com's general manager, will continue
to oversee the Quote.com assets, reporting directly to Chuck
Thompson, president of eSignal. The Quote.com assets generated, on
an unaudited basis, 2005 service revenue of approximately $12.7
million with total costs and expenses, excluding amortization, of
approximately $9.5 million. Assuming the transaction closes during
the first quarter of 2006, Interactive Data anticipates that the
transaction will be earnings neutral in 2006, and through a
combination of planned revenue growth and operational synergies,
accretive to earnings in 2007 and beyond. Interactive Data
Corporation Forward-looking and Cautionary Statements This press
release contains certain forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and
Federal securities laws, and is subject to the safe-harbor created
by such Act and laws. Forward-looking statements include our
statements discussing future financial conditions, results or
projections, including statements relating to (i) the anticipated
impact of the acquisitions of the Quote.com assets or IS.Teledata
AG, or current product development initiatives on our business,
including any impact on our service revenue, earnings and profit
margins in 2006 or 2007 (ii) our estimation of Quote.com's 2005
service revenue and expenses, (iii) the anticipated timing of the
closing, (iv) our plans to enhance and expand the services we offer
to eSignal or Quote.com customers enabling us to better meet their
financial information needs, (v) our expectation that we will be
able to build a growing new revenue stream through online
advertising and (vi) our plans to combine Quote.com's and eSignal's
services to achieve cost-savings synergies and revenue growth.
These statements are subject to known and unknown risks,
uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors that may cause actual
results to be materially different from those contemplated by the
forward-looking statements. Such factors include: the acquisition
may not close on a timely basis or at all; our ability to
successfully integrate the Quote.com assets; and our ability to
retain key employees of Quote.com. Other factors include, but are
not limited to: (i) the presence of competitors with greater
financial resources than ours and their strategic response to our
services and products; (ii) a possible decline in activity levels
in the active trader markets; (iii) new offerings by competitors or
new technologies that could cause our products or services to
become less competitive or obsolete; and (iv) other factors
identified in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to update these
forward-looking statements. About Lycos, Inc. Lycos, Inc.
(www.lycos.com) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Daum Communications
Corp., a leading Internet portal and e-commerce destination in
Korea with a growing presence throughout the Asian markets. Lycos,
Inc. creates and operates search, community and technology
lifestyle sites including Lycos.com, Hotbot.com, Wired.com,
Tripod.com, Angelfire.com and Quote.com. Other Lycos products and
sites include Lycos Mail, Gamesville and GetRelevant. Lycos was
acquired by Korean Daum Communications Corp. in October 2004 and
has its U.S. headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts. Daum
Communications Corp. is traded on the KOSDAQ: 035720, www.daum.net.
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(R), Advanced GET(TM), QuoTrek(R),
FutureSource(R), MarketCenter(TM), and MarketCenter LIVE(TM). 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. (C)2006 Lycos, Inc.
Lycos(R) is a registered trademark of Lycos, Inc. All other product
or service marks mentioned herein are those of Daum Communications
Corp., Lycos, Inc. or their respective owners. All rights reserved.
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