DirectStuff.com, Inc. Sells MyCoupons.com and DirectCoupons.com in $23 million Deal to Save.com

Written: 15 May 2000

Pittsburgh, PA - May 15, 2000 - DirectStuff.com, one of the internet's leading online advertising firms, announced today the sale of two of its web sites, MyCoupons.com, and DirectCoupons.com, to Save.com for a two-year cash and marketing alliance valued at $23 million.

MyCoupons.com is a consumer site that provides coupons and savings with more than 15 million page views monthly and anticipated growth to 30 million by the end of 2000. DirectCoupons.com is a very popular weekly email publication with 450,000 current subscribers, and a growth rate of 1,000 a day.

As part of the marketing alliance, DirectStuff.com will continue to manage both sites, as well as Save.com's website, an online distributor of consumer packaged goods coupons whose primary investor is coupon industry giant Valassis Communications (NYSE:VCI).

"Save.com, with the backing and leadership in couponing of Valassis, seemed like the perfect fit to acquire these two highly valuable coupon-related web properties," says Jason Wolfe, President and CEO of DirectStuff.com. "The synergies of this alliance will provide tremendous value to the investors and shareholders of both Save.com and DirectStuff.com."

Bargain shoppers who visit MyCoupons.com to seek out the best offers or participate in interactive and moderated forums, will now have the added benefit of printing grocery coupons directly from the site while online. Similarly, coupon collectors visiting Save.com can interact and expand their opportunities for savings in the MyCoupon.com and DirectCoupon.com online communities.

"MyCoupons.com will serve as a great anchor for the Save.com network," says Bruce Ettinger, CEO of Save.com. "The executive management at DirectStuff.com possesses a deep understanding of what online coupon users want and have created a unique environment for value conscious consumers at MyCoupons.com."

An added benefit of the marketing alliance will be the opportunity to deliver billions of print impressions through the Valassis Sunday Free Standing insert (FSI) which will drive traffic to the MyCoupons.com site. DirectStuff.com's ability to drive traffic from more than 6,000 websites to MyCoupons.com likewise will increase usage of Save.com software and grocery coupons.

"We expect that this alliance will create exponential growth for MyCoupons.com and generate a substantial increase in the number of downloads of Save.com couponing software," Ettinger added.

According to Wolfe, DirectStuff.com, in addition to managing all three sites, will continue to build the DirectStuff brand which includes its DirectLeads.com advertising network, its DirectStuff.com publications network, and its DirectCertificates.com gift certificate network.

"Our goal is to continue to build these networks and bundle them together to provide the most cohesive offering possible to advertisers," Wolfe says. "Our ability to collectively offer a full array of Cost Per Click (CPC), Cost Per Action (CPA) and Cost Per Sale (CPS) performance-based advertising is already unique in the industry."