Women's Category Leader in the U.S. Plans Global Expansion with a Landmark
Investment from Hubert Burda Media, GLG, DAG and Other Major Investors
BRISBANE, Calif. and NEW YORK, Feb. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Glam Media, Inc.
(http://www.GlamMedia.com), number one in reach for women online, announced today
the closing of $84.6 million in private financing, with $64.6 million in
Series D funding and $20 million in revenue-based debt financing. Proceeds
of the financing will be used to accelerate the growth of the company's
distributed media network that connects premium brand display advertisers
with online audiences worldwide. The equity-financing round is led by
Hubert Burda Media, an international media powerhouse and publisher of more
than 260 magazines titles and an investor in more than 25 high-growth
digital holdings.
Other investors for the round include: GLG Partners, a leading
alternative asset manager; Duff Ackerman & Goodrich Ventures (DAG), a
leading crossover fund with a rich history in Internet and TV networks; and
existing investors Accel Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Walden Ventures
and Information Capital. Hercules Technology Growth Capital, a leading
provider of debt and equity capital, will provide the debt financing.
The new funding will fuel Glam Media's aggressive global expansion in
2008 across new territories and categories, focusing on transforming brand
display advertising on the Web as the market shifts away from the dominance
of portals and destination sites to the distributed media network model
that Glam Media helped pioneer. The funding will also be used to make
strategic acquisitions, invest in technology to grow the distributed media
model and further global growth.
Christiane zu Salm, who joins the executive management board of Hubert
Burda Media in April 2008, will join the Glam Media Board of Directors as
an observer. Ms. zu Salm was founder of interactive TV network Neun Live
and formerly managing director of MTV Central Europe. Dr. Marcel Reichart,
managing director of Research & Development, Marketing and Communications
at Burda, and co-founder of the prestigious DLD conference, will oversee
the relationship between Burda and Glam. In a separate announcement today,
Glam unveiled its rollout in key international markets starting in the
United Kingdom, where Glam along with its publishers is already number one
in audience reach, ahead of long established media companies including
iVillage and CondeNet.
"Glam Media is well positioned to enable global brand advertisers via
their distributed media network model," said Dr. Marcel Reichart of Hubert
Burda Media. "The investment by Burda leverages our strong position in
women and lifestyle media brands and further enables our transformation
towards digital media."
"Glam Media is ideally situated as an influential player in the
emerging global digital media landscape," said Samir Arora, chairman and
CEO of Glam Media. "In 2007, Glam Media was the fastest-growing in comScore
Media Metrix Top 50 properties, becoming the number one women's property on
the Web in the U.S. with unprecedented speed. With fragmentation increasing
on the Web, our proven distributed media network model both supports our
key publishers and is the optimal way to bring premium brand display
advertisers to the Web."
Banc of America Securities and Allen & Company served as the lead
placement agents, with Deutsche Bank as a participating investment bank
helping in the placement of this round.
Glam Media continues to experience significant growth both in traffic
to Glam-owned-and-operated properties and via the reach of its publisher
network of 450+ lifestyle websites and blogs. Recent strategic
hires-including senior sales executive John Trimble from Fox Interactive,
former Yahoo! Smart Ads platform executive Dr. Kiumarse Zamanian and Joe
Lagani, former Conde Nast publisher-further position the company to take
advantage of the market focus and demand for premium brand display
advertising.
Glam Media's distributed media network currently includes Style,
Living, Entertainment, Wellness and Shopping channels. Each channel brings
together a blend of original editorial, syndicated and media partner
content and curated content from the 450+ sites in the Glam Publisher
Network. Glam Media provides media services-display and video advertising,
content syndication, advertorials, search and other application services to
its highly select network of publishers and managed vertical networks for
traditional media companies. Glam Media's pioneering distributed media
model has helped hundreds of publishers start and build their businesses by
helping them focus on what they love doing the most -- creating original
content and engaging their audience -- while Glam Media creates the
"ecosystem" that helps support and leverage the publishers' power for
advertisers worldwide.
About Hubert Burda Media
Hubert Burda Media is a $2.4 billion in revenue international media
group with more than 7,000 employees that first entered the market more
than 100 hundred years ago. Today, the company's portfolio comprises more
than 260 magazines worldwide, over 25 digital holdings, radio networks and
television productions as well as media sales, printing and direct
marketing operations.
About Glam Media
Glam Media's distributed media network model is revolutionizing the
very definition of what a media company is in the 21st Century. With 44
million global unique monthly visitors (comScore MediaMetrix), Glam Media
provides a compelling mix of fresh, original content created in-house with
a carefully curated Glam Publishing Network of more than 450 popular and
influential lifestyle websites, blogs and magazines. For premium national
brand advertisers, Glam Media offers an unprecedented array of targeted
options that are singularly attractive to both upscale and aspirational
consumers.
SOURCE Glam Media, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.GlamMedia.com
http://www.glam.com
CONTACT:
Caroline Hacker, Glam Media, +1-650-270-2183,
caroline@GlamMedia.com; Lane Buschel, The Morris + King Company,
+1-212-561-7454, lane.buschel@morris-king.com, for Glam Media
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