carClub.com Announces $45 Million in Private Funding
22 February 2000
carClub.com Announces $45 Million in Private Funding
SAN FRANCISCO--Feb. 22, 2000--The Chase Manhattan Corporation, Sun Microsystems, Inc., SAS Institute, Lex Service PLC and Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Invest in the First Internet Company to Combine B2C and B2B for Automotive Commerce
carClub.com, the first Internet company to deliver savings and benefits to both car owners and automotive retailers, today announced that it has obtained private funding totaling $45 million.
The investors include The Chase Manhattan Corporation (CMB), Sun Microsystems, Inc. (SUNW), SAS Institute, Lex Service PLC, the UK motoring and business services group, and private investment firm Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Incorporated. carClub.com founder and CEO Michael London said the funding will be used to launch the consumer offering of this first-ever Internet membership club addressing the needs of car owners over the entire life cycle of vehicle ownership and to expand its network of "preferred" automotive retailers nationwide.
"These blue chip investors add to carClub.com's already impressive investors which include Ford Motor Company (F), GE Financial Assurance (GE), First Union Corporation (FTU), Point West Capital Corporation (PWCC), and Advanta Corporation (ADVNA)," said carClub.com CEO Michael London.
"We carefully select investors from among the best companies in the world, companies that bring tremendous added value to our business," London continued. carClub.com investors are also strategic partners, bringing world-class expertise in critical areas such as automotive, financial services and information technology to establish the company as the leading Internet club in the automotive sector. Sun, Chase, and Hicks Muse will each have a seat on its Board of Directors. This rounds out a prestigious list of world-class companies with high level officers already serving on carClub.com's Board, including Ford Motor Company, MarketWatch.com, Inc. (MKTW) and First Union Corporation.
London explained that "carClub.com is creating a powerful new service and distribution channel for vehicle owners and selected automotive retailers alike." carClub.com offers consumers a wide array of information and innovative products that save on consumers and retailers time, money and aggravation.
carClub.com gives automotive retailers an opportunity to market services and products through an attractive vertical channel and a chance to save customer acquisition costs.
"carClub.com starts with a very strong and unique concept that delivers unprecedented value to everybody involved," said Norman Buchan, President, Chase Manhattan Auto Finance. "By building a membership base, carClub.com can generate buying power for consumers and retailers. We will be working to offer carClub.com's benefits to interested Chase customers and provide our financing and associated products to carClub.com's members and other customers."
"Our goal is to create value for Sun by creating value for carClub.com," said Jonathan Schwartz, Vice President of Sun's Venture Fund. "We want to help carClub build a reliable, stable, highly available systems architecture on which the company and its customers can depend."
Andrew Rosen, a Principal of Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, stated, "We invested in carClub.com because its concept, tremendous list of investors, great management team, Board members and partners present a compelling case that it will be a huge success. We only invest in companies that we feel have the chance to succeed globally. We believe that when the world learns more about carClub.com's unique business model, the company will be recognized as the market leader in its category."
About carClub.com
carClub.com is a membership club that uses the power of the Internet to connect vehicle owners and automotive retailers, creating a mutually beneficial relationship founded on trust and fair pricing. carClub.com combines business-to-consumer and business-to-business strategies under one umbrella to create a new distribution channel in the automotive market.
carClub.com's business-to-consumer membership structure helps consumers harness the collective power of the Internet to ensure that they receive fairest possible treatment and prices. carClub.com's unbiased automotive experts and product and service retailers provide consumers with reliable information and the peace of mind that they are making wise decisions regarding their cars. The buying power of its membership also provides savings on most car-related expenses, from discounts on gasoline, insurance, financing and maintenance to advice from professional mechanics over the phone.
carClub.com's business-to-business component provides a growing network of selected automotive retailers with a program to market their products and services directly to carClub.com members, significantly lowering their customer acquisition costs. Each retailer receives a personalized Web site and a benefits package that saves them money on products and services to help them run their business. Because of carClub.com's emphasis on honesty and good value in the automotive market, participating in carClub.com's program gives each of these businesses added credibility with consumers.
This unique combination delivers value to buyers and sellers for the entire life cycle of vehicle ownership. carClub.com can be contacted via its Web site www.carClub.com or by calling a customer service representative at 800/carClub.
About The Chase Manhattan Corporation
The Chase Manhattan Corporation is one of the world's premier financial services institutions, with operations in 48 countries around the globe. Chase has a top-tier ranking in all areas of investment banking, private banking, trading and global markets activities as well as information and transaction processing. Chase is a leading provider of financial solutions to large corporations, financial institutions, government entities, middle market firms, small businesses and individuals, and has relationships with more than 30 million consumers across the United States through products and services such as credit cards, mortgages, online banking, debit cards, deposit products and auto loans. Through its newly formed business unit, Chase.com, Chase is successfully creating new business models for the Internet economy. Chase can be reached on the Web at www.chase.com.
About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- The Network is The Computer(TM) -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. , to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to ".com" their businesses. With $13 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com.
About Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Incorporated
Since its formation in 1989, Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Incorporated has completed or currently has pending more than 325 transactions with a total capital value of approximately $40 billion. Headquartered in Dallas, the firm also has offices in New York, London and Buenos Aires.
About SAS Institute
SAS Institute, the world's largest privately held software company, is the leader in decision support and data warehousing, providing integrated enterprise information-delivery solutions and e-business solutions. The Institute markets packaged business solutions for vertical industry and departmental applications, as well as an integrated suite of software tools and consulting services. These allow companies to transform the wide variety of data within their organizations into information that business users and researchers need to make better decisions. SAS software and services are used at more than 33,000 business, government, and university sites in 115 countries. SAS Institute's 1999 revenues topped $1 billion. For more information visit www.sas.com.
About Lex Service PLC
Lex Service PLC, based in the UK, is a business and vehicle services group, with three segments. Lex Business Services works in partnership with business customers improving their effectiveness, through Lex's outsourcing capabilities which include the management of vehicles, inventory and mechanical handling equipment. RAC Motoring Services provides motoring services, including roadside assistance, driver tuition and car servicing, to private and corporate motorists. Lex Vehicle Marketing works in partnership with manufacturers to import and retail vehicles. In each segment, Lex is looking for innovative ways to use the Internet to improve the services it offers to both business to business and private customers. For more information visit www.lex.co.uk.