First Virtual Holdings to Acquire Email Publishing Inc.

First Virtual Holdings Inc., a provider of advanced messaging systems for Internet commerce, said that it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Email Publishing Inc..

The transaction, which is subject to approval by the stockholders of both
companies, will involve the exchange of approximately 6 million common shares
of First Virtual. The transaction is expected to close early in the fourth
quarter. First Virtual closed at $3.875, making the deal worth about $23
million if it were to close now.

Email Publishing markets message delivery, including ads, and e-mail
subscription management services to publishers and other corporate customers.

“The acquisition of Email Publishing is an important step in our strategy to
position First Virtual as a single source for our customers’ interactive
messaging needs,” said Keith S. Kendrick, president of First
Virtual. “Together, we will be able to provide a wider range of
services to our customers. Our combined resources will improve our efficiency and marketplace
reach. Email Publishing’s world class outbound messaging technology
complements our proven reply processing capabilities.”

“Email Publishing’s customers will benefit from the ability to add transactive
messaging through First Virtual’s Interactive Messaging Platform,” said Andrew
Currie, president of Email Publishing. “Combining our extensive experience in
the publishing and software publishing fields with First Virtual’s focus on
the financial services, travel, and catalog industries is a natural fit.”

On Aug. 3, Email Publishing announced an agreement with Centrobe to offer
e-mail magazine renewal services to Centrobe’s extensive roster of magazine
publishing clients. Also, Email Publishing recently announced a partnership
with I/PRO to offer I/PRO’s Email I/AUDIT service to its client base.

Email Publishing clients include CMP Media, PennWell Publishing, Miller
Freeman, Cahners Publishing, Intuit and GeoCities.