AMERICA ONLINE, INC. AND STAMPS.COM FORM MAJOR ALLIANCE TO BRING INTERNET POSTAGE TO MILLIONS
New Alliance Expands Existing Agreement; AOL Also Makes Multi-Million Dollar Investment in Stamps.com
SANTA MONICA, Calif. – (October 21, 1999) – America Online, Inc. (NYSE: AOL), the world’s leading interactive services company, and Stamps.com(TM) (Nasdaq: STMP) today announced a broad distribution and marketing alliance that will make Stamps.com the exclusive provider of Internet Postage(TM) on AOL, Netscape, and CompuServe branded CD-ROMs, giving millions of small business customers access to Stamps.com software. AOL will also make a multi-million dollar investment in Stamps.com.
The alliance establishes Stamps.com as the premier online provider of postage software available within key areas across several AOL brands. Under the agreement, Stamps.com will have access to more than 20 million combined members of AOL and CompuServe, and to millions of additional Netscape Netcenter and Digital City visitors.
The three-year, $56 million agreement expands an existing alliance between the two companies that has helped drive the number of pre-registrants for the Stamps.com service to over 100,000 consumers and businesses. Already approved by the U.S. Postal Service, Stamps.com harnesses the power of the Internet to allow consumers to print postage at any time of the day or night using just a computer, printer and Internet connection. With Stamps.com’s easy, convenient, and cost effective service, customers never have to rush to the post office again.
“Stamps.com is a leader in Internet postage, an industry of growing interest to many different segments of the online community,” said Bob Pittman, president and chief operating officer of America Online. “Whether it’s individuals, small businesses, or corporate enterprise, working together AOL and Stamps.com will be able to make this service both easy to use and easily available.”
“Through this alliance, Stamps.com has further established itself as the leader in the Internet Postage category,” said Stamps.com CEO John Payne. “By making the Stamps.com service easily accessible to the enormous number of current and future users of several key AOL brands, we expect to significantly expand our customer base, especially within our primary small business target market. We’re very pleased that the world’s number one Internet brand has recognized Stamp.com’s market leadership by making an investment in our company and increasing their role as our strategic ally.”
Also part of the agreement, Stamps.com will become the exclusive Internet Postage sponsor on Netscape’s Delivery Center, and on future shipping sites within the AOL and CompuServe services. Stamps.com will be AOL’s premier Internet Postage partner in the AOL, Netscape Netcenter, CompuServe, and Digital City Postage Centers, and Stamps.com will sponsor numerous Small Office/Home Office (SOHO), small business and mail-related areas across the AOL family of brands. Stamps.com will develop co-branded versions of the Stamps.com Website for each of the above-named AOL properties, two of which are among the top five most widely visited sites on the Internet. AOL’s properties are heavily trafficked by Stamps.com’s primary target segment, the Small Office/Home Office user.
About Stamps.com
Founded in 1996, Santa Monica-based Stamps.com is the only commercially approved true Internet Postage service. The company’s innovative technology eliminates the need for specialized hardware by giving customers the flexibility to print postage over the Internet – securely, accurately and fast. Through partnerships with major companies like America Online, IBM, Microsoft, Office Depot, Quicken.com and 3M, Stamps.com has tremendous reach into the small office/home office and consumer markets. More information about the company can be found at sdcmainprod.wpengine.com.
About America Online, Inc.
Founded in 1985, America Online, Inc., based in Dulles, Virginia, is the world’s leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies, and e-commerce services. America Online, Inc. operates two worldwide Internet services: America Online, with more than 18 million members, and CompuServe, with approximately 2 million members; several leading Internet brands including ICQ, AOL Instant Messenger and Digital City, Inc.; the Netscape Netcenter and AOL.COM portals; the Netscape Navigator and Communicator browsers; AOL MovieFone, the nation’s # 1 movie listing guide and ticketing service; and Spinner Networks and NullSoft, Inc., leaders in Internet music. Through its strategic alliance with Sun Microsystems, the Company develops and offers easy-to-deploy, end-to-end e-commerce and enterprise solutions for companies operating in the Net Economy.
“Safe Harbor” Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Important factors, including the company’s ability to effectively manage the commercial release of its service, its ability to meet its future capital requirements, and its ability to maintain and develop its strategic relationships, could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements and are detailed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, made from time to time by Stamps.com, including its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 1999, and Stamps.com’s prospectus, related to its initial public offering, that was filed with the SEC on June 25, 1999.
Internet Postage, Stamps.com and the Stamps.com logo are trademarks of Stamps.com Inc. All other brands and names are property of their respective owners.