| From: Glenn Petersen | 1/18/2005 11:32:37 AM | | | | | | KNOT enters the e-dating space. Seems like a logical extension. No term were announced.
biz.yahoo.com
The Knot Acquires GreatBoyfriends.com
Tuesday January 18, 8:50 am ET
Lifestage Media & Services Company Expands on its Franchise with Young Women
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 18, 2005--The Knot Inc. (OTCBB: KNOT - News, www.theknot.com - News), one of the world's leading lifestage media and services companies, reported today it has acquired the assets of GreatBoyfriends LLC (GreatBoyfriends.com and GreatGirlfriends.com).
GreatBoyfriends.com and GreatGirlfriends.com will become the fourth lifestage-oriented service within The Knot Inc.'s growing portfolio of brands, which includes top wedding brand The Knot, newlywed resource TheNest.com, and popular teen site PromSpot.com. Building upon its market share within the $70 billion wedding industry, this latest acquisition further expands the company's relationship with women, ages 25-35, and marks the arrival of The Knot Inc. into the $450 million online personals domain.
GreatBoyfriends.com and GreatGirlfriends.com are unique referral-based e-dating services that offer singles access to "pre-approved" potential suitors. Founded in 2002 by ELLE magazine advice columnist E.Jean Carroll and her sister Cande Carroll, GreatBoyfriends.com and GreatGirlfriends.com are based on the premise that everyone knows a 'great catch' (an ex, his best man, her maid of honor, a younger brother or sister, etc.) who is in the market for true love.
Closing the loop between social networking and online dating, the sites work on the principle "if you take a good catch, you put one back." The services enable friends and family of potential suitors to act as third-party endorsers, allowing them to post recommendations and pictures on behalf of desirable singles -- at no charge. In turn, singles who nominate a great find are rewarded with a free month's subscription to the sites' witty "boyfriend and girlfriend ratings" and can correspond with its community of famously handsome men and seriously gorgeous women -- every one of whom comes with a woman's stamp of approval or wingman's thumbs-up. Singles can continue their give-and-take approach to e-dating or gain access without a referral for a subscription fee of $20 per month.
"The acquisition of the GreatBoyfriends referral-based online personals franchise is a logical expansion of our business," said David Liu, CEO of The Knot. "Our core audience of millions of engaged women on TheKnot.com are eager to marry off their single friends and have been matchmaking for their bridesmaids and groomsmen through our message boards for years. Our intensely viral bridal community is the perfect match for both growing the GreatBoyfriends.com database of eligible single men and driving new women customers to purchase site subscriptions, and likewise for GreatGirlfriends.com. And. . . when they do find their match, our existing media properties will be there to guide them to the altar and beyond."
"It's brilliant! The Knot is about to monetize Mother Nature's Meet-and-Mate in a delicious way not even dreamed of by the most inventive marketers. The Knot will generate consumers for their wedding and newlywed sites by helping people fall in love on GreatBoyfriends.com and GreatGirlfriends.com," said cofounder E. Jean Carroll. "It's genius - and sexy in a way that only e-commerce can be sexy. For who better to give a stamp of approval and vouch for her fave fellow's 'nice guy' status or her best gal's 'bring home to mom' quotient, than a bride on her way to the altar herself?"
Cande Carroll added, "It's a perfect marriage between our two companies, with couples finding their true love on GreatBoyfriends.com and heading straight for The Knot post-engagement to plan their weddings and their happily ever after."
Cande Carroll will join The Knot management team as Vice President and will continue to manage the GreatBoyfriends.com service. E.Jean Carroll, author of long-running ELLE magazine column "Ask E. Jean" which reaches 4.8 million readers per month, will remain a consultant to the division, making ongoing contributions to the business including editorial content and will continue as media spokeswoman for GreatBoyfriends.com. A recognized relationships expert, E. Jean is the author of four books, was a contributing editor to Esquire, has written for Rolling Stone, Spin, New York, Outside, and was nominated for an Emmy for her writing for Saturday Night Live. She is a guest on national TV shows from Oprah to Today.
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| To: Tom Caruthers who wrote (68) | 1/18/2005 11:34:32 AM | | From: Glenn Petersen | | | | KNOT filed an 8-K last week disclosing that they had applied for a listing on The Nasdaq SmallCap Market.
sec.gov
ITEM 8.01. Other Events.
The Knot, Inc. applied to list its common stock on The Nasdaq SmallCap Market. Although The Knot believes that it meets all of the criteria for inclusion on The Nasdaq SmallCap Market, including satisfaction of all applicable Nasdaq Marketplace Rules, there can be no assurance that The Knot’s application will be approved. |
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| To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (71) | 1/19/2005 10:20:48 AM | | From: Tom Caruthers | | | | Hi Glenn,
Happy New Year!
I have been accumulating slowly since the last earnings release based on the assumption that mynest.com will be a major play on online advertising, positioning the company for either good growth, or as an acquisition candidate. This latest announcement of the acquisition of greatgirlfriends.com and greatboyfriends.com seems to be a distraction. It may work as it tries to capture eyeballs that are younger than the married crowd, but don't see how this builds revenue. The application to the NASDAQ small cap is a good move.
Tom |
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| To: Tom Caruthers who wrote (72) | 1/23/2005 11:20:04 AM | | From: Glenn Petersen | | | | Tom,
And a Happy New Year to you.
I think that you are right about mynest.com, though I suspect that the site did not generate much in the way of revenues during the fourth quarter. It will take some time to ramp up. I'll qualify that with a, "I could be wrong."
The latest acquisition is a bit puzzling. The e-dating space has been hot, though this twist on the concept might not be a huge revenue generator. I'm still waiting for the company to file an 8-K with some more details.
Today's New York Times has an article on Audible and certain of its shareholders who essentially "bet the house" on the company when its stock price was down at $.15 per share. The article mentions The Knot and Varsity Group.
Message 20975886 |
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| To: Tom Caruthers who wrote (77) | 3/22/2005 12:54:39 AM | | From: Tom Caruthers | | | | Glenn,
Don't know if you have been watching KNOT volume, but it is picking up quite a bit lately, moving KNOT to new 52 week highs. This portends good things. I'd imagine that we will be able to get relisted soon.
Tom |
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