Online community theglobe.com Tuesday
acquired Attitude Network, publisher of Happy Puppy and Games Domain gaming sites for $43 million in stock.
The acquisition will be accounted for as a purchase and the companies expect to finalize
the closing later this month. Financial terms call for theglobe.com to issue roughly 785,000
shares of common stock to Attitude shareholders and some holders of
convertible notes.
theglobe.com will also assume $5.1 million of Attitude’s debt and will
assume all outstanding options and warrants of Attitude which will be
exercisable for approximately
64,000 shares of new common stock. The stock to be issued by theglobe.com
in connection with the
acquisition will be “restricted” securities under the Federal securities
laws, with certain registration rights.
The audience of the Attitude sites will augment theglobe.com community of
9.3 million users with an additional 2.36 million users. According to the
companies, Happy Puppy and Games Domain together have the highest
concentration of 18-44 year olds
who shop online.
“The shopping and purchasing habits of this audience is one of the most
attractive on the
Web and is a perfect fit with our newly integrated shopping experience and
soon to be launched auction
service,” said Todd Krizelman, the globe.com’s co-CEO.
“The gaming industry is experiencing strong global growth which we fully expect
to leverage as we extend and enhance theglobe.com community throughout the
European continent,” said Stephan Paternot,
co-CEO, theglobe.com.
According to Attitude CEO David Rae, employees of the gaming company will
remain in New York, and
possibly work in theglobe.com’s expanding office space.
“We’re thrilled to bring an audience of gaming enthusiasts into the
extended globe community,” Rae said. “Our international
team of gaming experts is looking forward to making theglobe.com the best
site on the Web for interactive
entertainment.”
