MEDIA RELEASE PR41359
MMC Announces Strategic Transaction With Europe's Largest Internet Company
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 21 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --
MMC, the leading publisher and digital media company that owns content
properties such as OnCars.com, Deadline.com, HollywoodLife.com,
Movieline.com, BGR.com, YHAwards.com, HollyBaby.com, Fan.com, India.com and
others, today announced a strategic transaction related to its Mail.com asset
with Europe's largest Internet company, United Internet Group. The Germany
based United Internet, a multi-billion dollar publicly listed communications
leader, plans to leverage their pioneering e-mail subsidiary GMX to continue
the success that Mail.com experienced under the MMC umbrella, while
dramatically building the e-mail service internationally.
Under the terms of the agreement, the United Internet Group has acquired
the Mail.com e-mail business from MMC, but MMC will remain the primary global
content provider for the Mail.com portal. MMC will also be partnering with
United Internet to launch properties and distribute online content across
various international markets, initially targeting Germany and India. Jay
Penske, Founder and CEO of MMC remarked, "This extraordinary transaction
further enhances MMC's position as a global leader in publishing original
digital content. Additionally, we are thrilled to embark on this partnership
with United Internet and know that they will continue to expand the Mail.com
brand internationally. We have tremendous respect for United Internet and the
business they have built, and look forward to launching digital properties
with them for years to come."
Over the course of the transition, the current Mail.com e-mail service
will be migrated, with every user receiving the award-winning e-mail platform
and interface from United Internet's primary e-mail brand, GMX. "With
Mail.com, we are looking forward to being able to combine the best
international domain for e-mail with our globally successful e-mail product,"
says GMX General Manager Jan Oetjen. "The specific strength of Mail.com is
its unique character: You can easily memorize the name @mail.com; it is
attractive and, at the same time, a neutral alternative to provider-oriented
address endings such as Hotmail, Yahoo or Google Mail globally. And
furthermore Mail.com offers consumers a choice of over 300 additional e-mail
addresses. On the highly competitive international e-mail market, we perceive
Mail.com as a unique opportunity for differentiation which cannot be copied."
In connection to the acquisition of Mail.com, United Internet and MMC
have also agreed on strategic collaboration for MMC's significant joint
venture in the website India.com, which is also part of the MMC portfolio.
This website will also take advantage of custom GMX-powered e-mail products.
This strategic alliance also means a forthcoming rebrand for the holding
company MMC.
"In the coming weeks we look forward to sharing a new corporate identity
which characterizes the strength and excellence of the collective brands in
our portfolio and the content they create. Although the branding of MMC will
be changing, all aspects of our corporate vision, strategy, business
operations, events, and content properties remain unchanged-now with an even
greater focus on expanding the portfolio of published content properties,"
said Jay Penske.
About MMC:
MMC is a leading publishing and digital media company founded by Chairman
and CEO Jay Penske in 2004. The company owns and operates a unique portfolio
of lifestyle brands that provide the web's best original content in
categories including entertainment, tech, automotive, breaking news, media,
finance, health, beauty, style and sports. Deadline.com, HollywoodLife.com,
OnCars.com, BGR.com, HollyBaby.com, Movieline.com, India.com, Fan.com, and
the Young Hollywood Awards, Style Awards, and Breakthrough of the Year Awards
are all part of the expanding MMC portfolio.
About UNITED INTERNET GROUP:
The United Internet Group, is Europe's largest publicly listed Internet
company with a multi-billion market capitalization and nearly 5,000 employees
worldwide, and is one of the web's pioneers of communication via the
Internet.
SOURCE: Mail.com Media Corporation
CONTACT: MMC
+1-310-321-5000
press@corp.mail.com
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