LONDON, 1 August 2002 – QXL ricardo plc (“QXL”; LSE: QXL.L; Nasdaq: QXLC; Frankfurt: QXL.F), the pan-European online auction company and Yahoo! Europe, which provides communications, commerce and media services through nine local Yahoo! sites, today announced they have signed an agreement to provide a co-branded on-line auction service in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
Under the terms of the multi-year agreement, QXL will host and maintain a co-branded auction site in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, with both Yahoo! and QXL responsible for selling marketing solutions across the three sites. The on-line auction service will be accessed via a jump-page off the Yahoo! home page in these three countries. It will retain the look and feel of the current Yahoo! Auction site and will be co-branded as “powered by QXL”.
Yahoo! currently has an on-line auction service in Denmark only, whilst QXL operates sites in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The co-branded sites will go live during the current financial quarter. At this time, auction users from Yahoo! Denmark will be directed to place any new listings on the co-branded service, and existing listings on the original Yahoo! Denmark site will run until their natural close.
Mark Zaleski, Chief Executive Officer of QXL said:
“As the number one on-line auction service in Scandinavia, we look forward to welcoming Yahoo! users to this new co-branded service. We are excited to be joining forces with Yahoo!, and believe that the combination of two of the leading on-line brands in this region, will be a success with consumers and marketers alike.”
Mark Opzoomer, Managing Director of Yahoo! Europe commented:
“From a financial and strategic perspective, the agreement with QXL will better enable Yahoo! to focus on key growth areas across our Scandinavian sites. At the same time, our users in the Scandinavian region will benefit from QXL’s market leading service”.
About QXL Ricardo plc
QXL ricardo plc ("QXL") is a pan-European online auction community, conducting online auctions in eleven languages and twelve currencies 24 hours a day, seven days a week in an efficient, convenient and entertaining environment. QXL enables buyers to bid on merchandise and services from across Western Europe which are sold by QXL members and merchants. QXL also enables sellers to locate and trade with buyers in new geographic markets. A wide selection of merchandise and services is available on its online auction community, ranging from computer software and hardware, consumer electronics, household appliances and collectibles to travel-related items and sports equipment. QXL is a publicly traded company with its shares listed on the Official List of the United Kingdom Listing Authority, the Nasdaq National Market and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
QXL provides access to the QXL trading community in:
UK - www.qxl.com; Germany - www.ricardo.de; France - www.qxl.fr; Italy - www.qxl.it; Netherlands - www.ricardo.nl; Norway - www.qxl.no; Denmark - www.qxl.dk; Spain - www.qxl.es; Poland - www.allegro.pl; Sweden - www.qxl.se; Finland - www.qxl.fi; Switzerland - www.ricardo.ch
About Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is a leading provider of comprehensive online products and services to consumers and businesses worldwide. Yahoo! is the No. 1 Internet brand globally and the most trafficked Internet destination worldwide. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., Yahoo!’s global network includes 25 World properties and is available in 13 languages.
About Yahoo! Europe
Yahoo! Europe provides communications, commerce and media services across its eight sites in Europe to meet the needs of local consumers. Yahoo! Europe is comprised of the Yahoo! sites for the UK & Ireland (www.yahoo.co.uk), France (a href="http://www.yahoo.fr" target="_blank">www.yahoo.fr), Germany (www.yahoo.de), Italy (www.yahoo.it), Spain (www.yahoo.es), Catalán (www.ct.yahoo.com) and the Nordic region, including Denmark (www.yahoo.dk), Sweden (www.yahoo.se) and Norway (www.yahoo.no). The Yahoo! offices in London, Paris, Munich, Milan, Madrid and Copenhagen are staffed by local nationals and Yahoo! Europe is headquartered in central London.
Notes to Editors
Yahoo! Europe withdrew its on-line auction service in the UK & Ireland, France, Germany, Spain and Italy on 28th June 2002, further to a strategic review of business operations and an online marketing agreement with eBay International. Press release at: http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/020620/280/d1l53.html
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