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In The News

The principals of M&A are quoted regularly and frequently in publications ranging from Business Week and Forbes to the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, New York Post, Los Angeles Times, and other major publications worldwide. M&A has been the subject of interviews on business-radio and television programs including the Fox Business News, CBS MarketWatch, The Street.com TV, Yahoo! Finance TV, Sirius XM Radio, BBC-Worldwide and CNBC. Below are links to a sample of articles in which M&A has been quoted:

General Atlantic believes in Webloyalty

April 2005

General Atlantic believes in Webloyalty

by David Shabelman

April-21-2005

General Atlantic LLC will acquire online marketing firm Webloyalty.com Inc. for $250 million, said sources close to the deal, with the transaction expected to be announced by Monday, April 18.

Webloyalty, a Norwalk, Conn.-based provider of Internet affinity marketing services, hired CIBC World Markets in December to review strategic alternatives, including a possible sale. It subsequently received five offers from a combination of financial and strategic bidders, one source said.

A Webloyalty representative did not return calls seeking comment. CIBC advised Webloyalty on the transaction.

In paying $250 million for the company, General Atlantic Partners is paying slightly less than 3 times Webloyalty's $86.2 million in 2004 revenue. Officials at the Greenwich, Conn.-based buyout firm were unavailable for comment.

That price offers a fat return to Webloyalty's venture backers, who have invested $21.5 million into the company over three rounds of financing since Webloyalty launched in 1999. Canaan Partners of Rowayton, Conn., led a $4.5 million investment in 1999, along with Webloyalty's founders Richard Fernandes and Vincent D'Agostino. Canaan and BCI Partners of Teaneck, N.J., also participated in a $12 million round in 2000 with the founders. The two shops participated as well in a $5 million round in 2001.

Webloyalty allows companies to offer services through membership and special discount programs on travel, entertainment and fraud protection. The company has 1.4 million subscribers through Webloyalty's clients, which include travel Web site Priceline.com Inc. of Norwalk, Classmates Online Inc. of Renton, Wash., and AmericanGreetings.com of Cleveland.

Among General Atlantic's portfolio companies are InsightExpress LLC, a Stamford, Conn., Web-based market research firm, and Open Text Corp., a Waterloo, Ontario, maker of content management software.

"General Atlantic has been all over the Web-related space," said Ken Marlin, managing partner with Marlin & Associates LLC, a New York-based consulting and advisory firm for media companies. "They've always been a technology-oriented investor and have always been interested in companies that can transform businesses, so it certainly makes sense for them."

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