RETURN
PATH ACQUIRES NETCREATIONS
Adding Top-tier E-mail Acquisition,
List Management and Market Research
services to Return Path’s E-mail
Performance Suite Creates Unrivaled
E-mail Services Powerhouse
New York, New York (June 29, 2004)
– Return Path, Inc., the premier
e-mail performance management company,
announces today that it has acquired
NetCreations, Inc., the leading provider
of permission-based e-mail acquisition
and sampling services, from Consodata
Group Limited, a unit of Seat P.G.,
one of the world's leading multi-platform
directory companies. Terms of the
deal are not being disclosed.
The merger creates a company that
will serve 1,500 top U.S. marketers
as clients, has 500 top web sites
and ISPs as data partners and nearly
1,000 channel partners, and a registered
user base of 41 million active consumers
that grows by nearly 50,000 per day.
NetCreations will become a division
of Return Path, led by President Michael
Mayor and the current NetCreations
team. Mayor will also join Return
Path’s Board of Directors.
“Because of its high permission
standards, NetCreations has long been
a highly-regarded leader in e-mail
acquisition and technology,”
said Return Path CEO Matt Blumberg.
“Joining forces combines the
gold standard of e-mail deliverability
and performance with our counterpart
in e-mail acquisition, providing clients
of both companies an expanded breadth
of services and access to thought
leaders in e-mail performance across
list building, list quality, e-mail
deliverability and best practices.
We are thrilled to welcome Mike and
his team, with many years of experience
in e-mail marketing services, to Return
Path.”
The combined company will offer marketers
an unparalleled suite of best-in-class
e-mail marketing solutions to improve
the performance of their customer
acquisition and retention e-mail programs.
These solutions include: Delivery
Assurance Solutions to make sure opt-in
e-mails are successfully delivered
to customers’ inboxes; Strategic
Solutions to provide clients with
actionable, affordable e-mail strategies;
and NetCreations for list management,
rental, market research and list quality
solutions. Because high quality lists
are pivotal to e-mail delivery, the
NetCreations’ list building
and rental products will fit seamlessly
into Return Path’s existing
best-practice solutions.
“We’ve always held Return
Path’s expertise and services
in high regard and as being on par
with our own” Mayor said. “All
of us at NetCreations are truly excited
to be part of this emerging powerhouse
of unique and highly effective e-mail
marketing tools and look forward to
the many synergies that they will
surely produce for our partners and
clients.”
NetCreations was formerly part of
Seat P.G.-owned Consodata Group, most
of whose operating units were acquired
by Acxiom Corporation (NASDAQ: ACXM)
earlier this year.
About Return Path, Inc.
Founded in 1999, Return Path is an
e-mail performance management company
dedicated to improving the content,
reach and delivery of permission-based
e-mail programs. More than 350 companies
have used Return Path to increase
response rates and deliverability
of their e-mail programs through its
list maintenance, e-mail deliverability,
and strategic best practice solutions.
Return Path helps consumers and businesses
maintain online relationships through
a proprietary E-mail Change of Address
(ECOA) service that includes e-mail
forwarding and is the official ECOA
service for the United States Postal
Service, for which 15 million users
have opted-in to date. The company’s
investors include Sutter Hill Ventures,
Mobius Venture Capital, Flatiron Partners,
and JP Morgan Partners. For more information,
please visit www.returnpath.net, e-mail
info@returnpath.net, or call toll-free
866-362-4577.
About NetCreations Inc.
NetCreations, Inc. is the leading
provider of e-mail acquisition marketing
solutions to Fortune 500 clients.
In 1996, it pioneered and patented
the "Double Opt-in" list
building process which anti-spam groups,
ISPs, legislators, industry trade
groups, marketers and consumers agree
is the highest form of permission.
Today it manages the largest database
of Double Opt-In addresses. Through
its three divisions, PostMasterDirect,
SurveyDirect, and NetCreations Technology
Service, NetCreations is the trusted
source for more than 1000 active clients
in the Business-to-Consumer, Business-to-Business,
Market Research, and Technology markets.
Its management team has been, and
continues to be, instrumental in forging
best practices for responsible e-mail
marketers.
Contact:
Jennifer Wilson
Return Path
303-642-4128
jennifer.wilson@returnpath.net
Michael Mayor
NetCreations, Inc.
212-625-8693
michael@netcreations.com
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