January 31, 2006
PRIMEDIA Consumer Guides Acquires Croft & Bender Client RentClicks
PRIMEDIA
NEW YORK, NY (January 31, 2006) -- PRIMEDIA Inc.'s (NYSE:PRM) Consumer Guides, the country's leading publisher and distributor of apartment, new home and auto guides and their respective Web sites, ApartmentGuide.com, AutoGuide.com and NewHomeGuide.com, today announced the acquisition of RentClicks.com, the largest online marketplace for small unit rental properties, which is the largest segment of the rental market. RentClicks provides landlords, investors, and property managers with an efficient, easy to use Web-based tool to advertise rental properties to qualified and informed rental customers. Financial terms were not disclosed.
PRIMEDIA's Consumer Guides business has been a leading media source in the traditional large unit apartment market for over 30 years through Apartment Guide and its online property, ApartmentGuide.com. With this acquisition, the Company becomes the leader in the Small Unit Owner (SUO) rental market. This lucrative segment of the marketplace, which consists of rental houses, townhomes, condos and single unit apartments, accounts for 70% of the total rental market. Consumer Guides will leverage its operating experience, financial strength and reach of its proven guides business to capitalize on Rentclicks' significant position in this large segment of the rental market.
"These are two very complementary businesses coming together to bring quality and value to consumers and advertisers in the high-growth online marketplace for the residential rental market," said Jamie Gallo, president, Consumer Guides' Interactive Division. "The SUO rental market shows great growth opportunity and low penetration. The Internet has proven to be a powerful connection point for driving quality leads that result in rentals and RentClicks has built the fastest growing lead generation site in the housing market. We are excited to bring the RentClicks team on board to help us accelerate our online growth."
RentClicks' President and CEO, David Borden, cited PRIMEDIA's strength and experience in the apartment industry as a major driver in their decision to sell the company. "We started this business to fill a void in the marketplace. Apartment Guide is the first place people look if they want to rent an apartment, but what if they are looking for a house or condo or small unit to rent? We want RentClicks to be the "go to" site for these consumers. Now with the strength and resources of Consumer Guides behind us, we can achieve this vision much faster than we could on our own."
RentClicks quickly established itself as a preferred, dependable online provider of quality rentals in housing markets across the country and brings a reputation for successfully connecting property managers and rental customers. RentClicks maintains over 12,000 active listings and is visited by more than one million potential renters each month. Consumer Guides' Interactive Division consists of ApartmentGuide.com, Autoguide.com, NewHomeGuide.com, the AmercianHomeGuides.com family of Web sites, as well as Rentals.com, MovingResourceGuide.com and now RentClicks.com.
About PRIMEDIA Consumer Guides
PRIMEDIA Consumer Guides is the largest publisher and distributor of apartment, new home, auto guides and their respective Web sites. Through the Apartment Guide and ApartmentGuide.com, the company generated over 1 million leases for apartment property managers in 2005. New Home Guide and NewHomeGuide.com offer consumers comprehensive information about new home communities in 25 regional markets. Its newest division, Auto Guide and AutoGuide.com, features comprehensive and easy to use listings of used cars, SUVs and trucks for sale by auto dealerships in 14 markets throughout California, Georgia, Florida, New England and North Carolina. The company's distribution arm, DistribuTech, has exclusive distribution relationships with many of the country's leading supermarkets and chain stores and last year distributed more than 2,000 separate publications to these venues on behalf of other publishing organizations.
About PRIMEDIA
PRIMEDIA is the leading targeted media company in the United States. With 2004 revenue of $1.1 billion, its properties comprise over 135 brands that connect buyers and sellers through print publications, Web sites, events, newsletters and video programs in three market segments:
Enthusiast Media is the #1 special interest magazine publisher in the U.S. with more than 120 publications, 125 leading Web sites, 100 events, 10 TV programs, 340 branded products, and has such well-known brands as Motor Trend, Automobile, Automotive.com, In-Fisherman, Power & Motoryacht, Hot Rod, Snowboarder, Stereophile and Surfer.
-- Consumer Guides is the #1 publisher and distributor of free consumer guides in the U.S. with Apartment Guide, Auto Guide and New Home Guide, distributing free consumer publications through its proprietary distribution network, DistribuTech, in more than 49,000 locations. The Group owns and operates leading Web sites including ApartmentGuide.com, AutoGuide.com, NewHomeGuide.com and RentClicks.com.
-- Education includes Channel One, a proprietary network to secondary schools; Films Media Group, a leading source of educational videos; and Interactive Medical Network, a continuing medical education business.
CONTACT:
(Media) Josh Hochberg, Sloane & Company, 212-446-1892
(Investor Relations), Eric Leeds, PRIMEDIA Inc., 212-745-1885