FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Houston, TX - December 6, 2005 - WhiteFence, the leading online marketplace for residential services, today announced that Internet Capital Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: ICGE) has acquired a significant interest in its business, having led a Series A Preferred Stock financing round of approximately $15 million.
WhiteFence operates the nation's leading online service used by household consumers to compare and purchase essential home services such as electricity, natural gas, telephone, cable/satellite TV, and high-speed Internet, as well as other home- and move-related services and products. "Consumers love our service because we save them time, provide one-stop convenience, and help them select the best services from among a complete menu of offerings," said Arthur Maxwell, WhiteFence's Chief Executive Officer. "We believe that ICG is the right partner, particularly in terms of their Internet and online marketing expertise, to help us extend our leadership position."
WhiteFence serves the approximately 23 million U.S. households that move each year, as well as consumers looking to purchase new services or find better deals. The Company reaches consumers directly through Company-owned web sites and also through its network of exclusive channel partners, who integrate the web services application within their own business processes and web sites.
"We have built something unique," adds Maxwell. "We are not only a marketing company, we have developed our own highly advanced transaction and server-to-server integration technologies, which support our nationwide partner network consisting of several hundred service providers and channel partners. Our technology, which has processed 2.2 million transactions to date, provides our service providers with tremendous operational and cost savings, and makes us rapidly scalable within a large market opportunity."
Walter Buckley, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Internet Capital Group, noted "We've spent significant resources evaluating online marketing companies, and believe WhiteFence represents a valuable addition to the ICG network. With a web-enabled Internet software platform, a comprehensive, scaleable solution that captures important transactional data, and a very large market opportunity, WhiteFence is positioned to create long-term value for ICG and its stockholders."
"Our vision is simple," said Maxwell, ". . . to become the one-stop electronic marketplace for all consumers to shop, buy and pay for essential home services, as well as other ongoing services and relevant products, both residential and commercial, domestic and abroad."
Revolution Partners, LLC, a Boston based investment banking firm, provided placement services in connection with this financing.
About WhiteFence
WhiteFence, a Houston-based company, is the nationwide leader in online service transactions for essential home services. WhiteFence provides a unique service that enables consumers to compare available service provider offerings at their particular address, and immediately complete all of their transactions through one easy-to-use online platform - no call-backs, link-offs or need for consumers to repeat information. WhiteFence also creates significant value for its service provider partners, which include major phone, video, high speed internet, electricity, natural gas and banking providers. In addition to being a great customer acquisition source for service providers, WhiteFence also provides order processing efficiencies through its patent pending transaction and server-to-server integration technologies, which include multi-lateral electronic communications with and within back-end provisioning systems. WhiteFence reaches millions of moving households with timely move and home-related services through company-owned websites and through exclusive relationships with hundreds of channel partners, such as multifamily property owners, real estate companies, relocation services, web portals, home builders and other organizations.
WhiteFence headquarters are located in Houston, Texas. For more information, please visit www.WhiteFence.com.
About Internet Capital Group
Internet Capital Group (www.internetcapital.com) owns and builds Internet software companies that drive business productivity and reduce transaction costs between firms. Founded in 1996, ICG devotes its expertise and capital to maximizing the success of these platform companies that are delivering on-demand software and service applications to customers worldwide.
-###- Safe Harbor Statement under Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
The statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve certain risks and uncertainties including but not limited to risks associated with the uncertainty of future performance of our partner companies, acquisitions or dispositions of interests in partner companies, the effect of economic conditions generally, capital spending by customers and development of the e-commerce and information technology markets, and uncertainties detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These and other factors may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected.
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