eToys Sells BabyCenter

Healthcare products giant Johnson & Johnson has acquired
BabyCenter Inc. from the defunct
eToys Inc. for $10 million in cash.

BabyCenter.com is a resource for expectant and new mothers and fathers; the
family of associated sites also includes ParentCenter.com and BabyCentre.co.uk.

The BabyCenter Store was not a part of the transaction, and will be
temporarily closed, J&J said.

BabyCenter’s advertising business and all other site activity, including
health and parenting articles, e-mail newsletters, and its online community,
will continue to operate independently, J&J said.

BabyCenter will be part of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies Inc. and will
remain based in San Francisco, CA. J&J said it expects to retain and add to
the current staff.

eToys said last Monday that it plans
to file for bankruptcy protection in the next five to 10 days. The
company said its has enough cash to maintain operations through March 31 at
the latest.

eToys, saying its stock is essentially worthless, said it expects to close
the eToys.com Web site around March 8 and will then focus its efforts on
winding down its business and liquidating its assets.

Johnson & Johnson, with approximately 98,500 employees, is a manufacturer of
health care products, as well as a provider of related services, for the
consumer, pharmaceutical and professional markets. Johnson & Johnson has 194
operating companies in 51 countries around the world.

“Johnson & Johnson was attracted to the superior content and personalized
relationship that BabyCenter, as the leading online parenting brand, has
created with millions of parents from conception through childhood,” said
Christian Koffmann, worldwide chairman of the consumer and personal care
group at Johnson & Johnson.