Focus Digital AG and Playboy.com to Launch in First Half 2001
NEW YORK, Nov. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Playboy.com, Inc., the wholly owned
subsidiary of Playboy Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: PLA), and FOCUS Digital AG
(Frankfurt: FOC) have signed a letter of intent to form an online joint
venture. The German Playboy site will be the first international joint
venture for Playboy.com.
Like top-ranking U.S.-based site Playboy.com, Playboy.de will target the
entertainment and lifestyle interests of young men. It will have a local,
dedicated editorial staff based in Munich, Germany to create original
Playboy-style content, make use of content from the best-selling German
Playboy magazine published by Heinrich Bauer Verlag, and translate appropriate
U.S.-originated Playboy.com content, including the popular streaming video
features and live event coverage. Playboy.de will also link to Focus.de, the
most highly trafficked content site in Germany and a division of FOCUS Digital
AG, through its entertainment channel.
The site will mirror the multiple revenue stream model of Playboy.com,
starting with advertising and the subscription-based Playboy Cyber Club, and
then adding the Playboy Store, Playboy Auctions and other e-commerce.
FOCUS Digital AG will fund Playboy.de and will initially have an 80%
interest in the joint venture; Playboy.com will initially have a 20% interest.
Christie Hefner, Chairman of Playboy.com, said, "Playboy is one of the few
proven global entertainment brands that has the ability to consistently
attract men 18-34. We are excited to be launching our global strategy in
Germany, a country where our magazine has been a commercial and cultural
success for over 25 years, and the fastest-growing Internet market in Europe."
Lawrence R. Lux, President of Playboy.com, said, "Playboy's brand power
and marketing expertise combined with FOCUS Digital's extensive experience and
leadership in the German market will be enormous assets in the development of
Playboy.de. We are excited to have them as our partner. Like our U.S. site,
Playboy.de will offer a wide range of content -- including love and sex, arts
and entertainment, sports, comedy, style and more."
Jorg Buerosse, chairman of the board of FOCUS Digital AG, said, "Men's
entertainment ranks among the strongest growth segments in the Internet
worldwide. We will be able to leverage the globally recognized Playboy brand
to create exciting, original entertainment content for German men."
Subject to satisfactory completion of legal and operational due diligence
and customary closing conditions, the deal is expected to close by year-end.
About Playboy.com
Playboy.com; a wholly-owned subsidiary of Playboy Enterprises, Inc.
(NYSE: PLA), an international multimedia entertainment company; is the #1
lifestyle and entertainment destination Web site for men. Playboy.com operates
Playboy-branded Web sites targeting the entertainment and lifestyle interests
of young men, including: Playboy.com ( http://www.playboy.com ), an
advertising and e-commerce-supported Web site that offers a range of
entertainment, information and e-commerce; Playboy Cyber Club
( http://cyber.playboy.com ), a members-only subscription site featuring
premium Playboy content and exclusive online events; the Playboy Store
( http://www.playboystore.com ), which sells Playboy-branded products; and
Playboy Auctions ( http://auctions.playboy.com ), which auctions
Playboy-branded merchandise and admission to exclusive Playboy events, and
allows fans to auction their own Playboy memorabilia and collectibles.
Playboy.com also operates Cyberspice.com ( http://www.cyberspice.com ), a site
featuring premium adult entertainment under the Spice brand.
About FOCUS Digital AG
FOCUS Digital AG, quoted on the "Neuer Markt" section of the Frankfurt
Stock Exchange since July 13, 2000, is a media company which is comprised of
four business divisions with the aim of delivering "more quality for the
Internet": FOCUS Online, one of the leading general interest sites in
Germany; Interactive Content Production GmbH (ICP), the ground-breaking
specialist for customized content, technology and related services;
Interactive Advertising Center (IAC), one of the most successful suppliers of
targeted advertising and marketing on the Internet; and Netguide, the
innovative guide on the World Wide Web and leading edge technology supplier
for high quality portals. In this network, FOCUS Digital combines a high
level of Internet expertise (consulting, production, content, community,
commerce and online-marketing) with successful brand management. Therefore,
FOCUS Digital covers the entire spectrum of added value for Internet
publishing, offering its clients a total Internet solution.
This release contains "forward-looking statements" as to expectations,
beliefs, plans, objectives and future financial performance, and assumptions
underlying or concerning the foregoing. Such forward-looking statements
involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results or outcomes
to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements.
The following are some of the important factors that could cause actual
results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the
forward-looking statements: (1) government actions or initiatives, including
(a) attempts to limit or otherwise regulate the sale of adult-oriented
materials, including print, video and online materials or businesses such as
casino gaming, (b) regulation of the advertisement of tobacco products, or (c)
substantive changes in postal regulations or rates, (2) further increases in
paper prices, (3) changes in distribution technology and/or unforeseen delays
in the implementation of such technology by the cable and satellite industries
that might affect the company's plans and assumptions regarding carriage of
its program services, (4) increased competition for advertisers from other
publications and media or any significant decrease in spending by advertisers
generally or with respect to the adult male market, (5) increased competition
for transponders and channel space, and any decline in the company's access
to, and acceptance by, cable and DTH systems, (6) the effects of the
consolidation taking place nationally in the single-copy magazine distribution
system, (7) marketing issues facing direct marketing stamp sheet agents, (8)
new competition in the adult cable television market, (9) uncertainty of
market acceptance of the Internet as a medium for information, entertainment,
e-commerce and advertising, an increasingly competitive environment for
advertising sales, the impact of competition from other content and
merchandise providers, as well as the Company's reliance on third parties for
technology and distribution for its online business, and (10) potential
adverse effects of unresolved Year 2000 problems including external key
suppliers.
SOURCE Playboy.com, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.playboy.com
CONTACT:
Investor, Martha Lindeman, 312-373-2430, or
Media, Leah Karliner, 212-261-5000, ext. 3165, both for
Playboy.com
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