Modem Media Spends $64 Million for E-Commerce Firm

Modem Media.Poppe Tyson Monday
acquired e-commerce developer vivid studios for $64 million in cash and stock as part of a strategy to
increase its business services.

Modem Media (MMPT), which began as a marketing firm, has been expanding its business services recently. Monday’s acquisition of privately-held vivid is expected to close
in January. Vivid will be integrated into Modem Media’s operations.

Vivid focuses on creating e-commerce sites for start-up businesses as well
as established companies. Its Internet-related services include strategic planning,
engineering, systems architecture, design and project management.

G.M. O’Connell, Modem Media’s chairman and chief executive officer, said the acquisition will
strengthen the company’s e-commerce offerings.

“Modem’s acquisition of vivid is in line with our customer-focused
e-business strategy and enables us to implement complex e-commerce sites
quickly and market them more effectively,” O’Connell said.

“Vivid’s engineering prowess and proven information architecture and design
methodologies augment our ability to provide exceptional strategic guidance
and complete end-to-end services for our clients.”

Modem Media has been adding to its services in the past few months. In
October, the company purchased MEX Multimedia Experts GmbH, a German
developer of interactive business tools, for approximately $5.4 million in
cash and stock. The company also opened a strategic consulting division in
November designed to improve customer relations.