Torget buys Oppido - strengthens position as Swedens largest shopping portal

Torget buys Oppido - strengthens position as Sweden's largest shopping portal Posten AB and Emerging Technologies ET AB (ET) have entered into an agreement whereby Torget, Posten's shopping portal, will buy Oppido, an e- commerce company that has developed an advanced bonus and customer loyalty program. The object of the acquisition is to create added value for Torget's Internet shoppers, affiliated stores and potential partners. The acquisition will enable Torget to offer electronic CRM services, such as the ability for affiliated stores to send targeted offers and surveys to customers and prospects who have actively indicated an interest in receiving them. The affiliated stores will be able to acquire new customers cost effectively via other affiliated outlets. Torget can also offer information about customer behaviour in connection with e-commerce for use in analysing the structure of a web-store or coming sales campaigns. Torget considers that the acquisition of Oppido will save it as much as twelve months, as it will not have to develop its own advanced bonus system. This will put Torget in the lead on the market. The company will also gain access to more sources of revenue, which will enable the business to become profitable sooner than would otherwise have been possible. "During the past year, Posten carried out numerous activities designed to strengthen Torget's position as Sweden's leading shopping portal. The purchase of Oppido is a further stage in this process. In the next development phase, we will move ahead in our discussions with partners who can channel technical expertise and international markets into the Group," says Agne Pettersson, VP at Posten and chairman of Torget. "The deal will generate valuable synergies on both the revenue and the cost sides, mainly within technology and development. This is quite in line with ET's strategy of identifying structurally worthwhile solutions for its portfolio companies," says Alf Blomqvist, Partner in ET. Following the acquisition, Torget will be 60 per cent owned by Posten and 40 per cent by Emerging Technologies and other shareholders in the present Oppido. Ann Jönsson-Lindström will continue as CEO of Torget. Together, Oppido and Torget will offer the market a strong commercial concept. The combination of Internet advertising, a well known shopping portal and an advanced electronic CRM system will generate valuable opportunities for companies planning to use the Internet to acquire and retain customers. Torget is Sweden's largest shopping portal with around 700 affiliated stores and approximately 700,000 unique visitors per month (source: MMXI Nordic). When Posten was reorganised in July 2000, Torget was hived off into a separate company. The process of giving the business a sharper focus on electronic commerce continued, with the result that in the autumn it was also given a more consumer-oriented editorial content, a new appearance and a new search engine. Oppido's bonus program will credit members with points when they shop at affiliated outlets, take part in surveys or receive advertising. These points can then be exchanged for goods and experiences. The members can also voluntarily enter information about their interests so that they can receive customised offers. For further information, please contact Agne Pettersson,VP and CFO Posten: +46 8 781 71 80 Alf Blomqvist, Partner ET: +46 0733 87 20 05 Posten AB is a state-owned, commercially run company and is one of Sweden's main employers. In 1999, Posten AB employed an average of 41 800 persons and boasted a turnover of over 24 billion SEK. Posten AB's business concept is to offer clients the means to communicate quickly, safely and cost effectively via messages and goods- physically and electronically. Posten AB serves 4.1 million households and 500,000 companies. Products and services are sold, totalling 90 million SEK, and 22 million pieces of mail are handled, all on a daily basis. www.posten.se Emerging Technologies is a major Northern European venture capital corporation, active in the network economy. Emerging Technologies is building the corporations of the future alongside entrepreneurs, by providing capital, an expert team combining strategic, financial and technology skills, plus an international contact network. Emerging Technologies focuses on early-stage ventures, mainly in the high-growth mobile Internet/wireless technology and infrastructure sectors, plus e- business and services. www.emergingtechnologies.se ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/01/03/20010103BIT00180/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/01/03/20010103BIT00180/bit0002.pdf