(Source: PrimeNewswire)
WOODLAND HILLS, Calif., Aug. 26, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- United Online, Inc. (Nasdaq:UNTD), a leading provider of consumer products and services over the Internet, today announced that it has successfully completed the acquisition of FTD Group, Inc. ("FTD") for $10.15 in cash and 0.4087 of a share of United Online common stock for each share of FTD common stock, for a total value of $14.62 per share of FTD common stock based on United Online's closing stock price of $10.93 on August 26, 2008. The total consideration to FTD stockholders will be approximately $441 million, consisting of approximately $307 million in cash and approximately 12.3 million shares of United Online common stock. The remaining purchase price consists of repayment of FTD indebtedness and expenses incurred in connection with the transaction. As a result of the transaction, former FTD stockholders own approximately 15% of United Online.
The acquisition of FTD is expected to provide several strategic benefits to United Online, including a significant increase in scale, diversification of the company's revenue streams and profitability, and expanded marketing opportunities and efficiencies.
"I am delighted to welcome FTD's management team and talented employee base to the United Online family," commented Mark R. Goldston, United Online Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "FTD's world-class brands, customer demographics and significant Internet presence are a great fit with our existing consumer brands. We plan to leverage United Online's proven marketing expertise in attracting consumers to the highly popular www.ftd.com Web site and the 1-800-SENDFTD order line, and to the thousands of FTD-affiliated florists who are the life-blood of this great, nearly 100-year old company."
Goldston continued, "FTD's Interflora business unit, which is a premier floral brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland, represents a tremendous opportunity as well, and we are looking forward to the international opportunities afforded by the www.Interflora.co.uk Web site and the large base of exclusive Interflora-affiliated florists within those markets. The FTD and Interflora brands include the Mercury Man logo that is displayed in approximately 45,000 retail floral shops worldwide, and which is one of the most highly displayed retail logos in the world. We anticipate that our marketing initiatives for FTD will include cross-selling FTD products to our more than 50 million existing domestic consumer accounts across the Classmates, MyPoints, NetZero, and Juno businesses, and utilizing the MyPoints loyalty rewards platform as a mechanism to reward the millions of FTD customers for purchasing products from FTD."
"The acquisition also provides United Online with a significant increase in scale," Goldston said.
