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EXHIBIT 99.2
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Charles Messman
Todd Kehrli
MKR Group, LLC
415-934-6811
[email protected]
[email protected]
FREEREALTIME.COM COMPLETES MERGER WITH REDCHIP.COM
IRVINE, CA, August 21, 2000 -- FreeRealTime.com, Inc., (OTCBB: FRTI), the
company that brought free real-time stock quotes and market information to the
online financial services community, announced today that it has completed its
merger with privately held RedChip.com, a leading independent research company
devoted to "Discovering Tomorrow's Blue Chips Today." The companies previously
announced entering into a definitive merger agreement on June 7, 2000. The
merged entity creates one of the Internet's premier vertical finance portals
providing "real-time actionable insight" to independent and institutional
investors.
Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of FreeRealTime.com, Geoff Moore said,
"The addition of RedChip.com's resources allows us to provide real-time
proprietary research from a website that was recently named by Forbes the 'Best
of the Web' for small cap stocks. By combining this research with our real-time
market information, we are enhancing a site that has already been rated by both
Media Metrix and Nielsen//NetRatings as the Web's "stickiest" e-Finance site,
and building an even more powerful tool for the delivery of key stock market
resources. In addition, this merger also transforms our business model with a
number of B2B and e-commerce revenue streams that are expected to surpass our ad
sales next year."
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Under the terms of the merger agreement, FreeRealTime.com is issuing four
million shares to the RedChip.com shareholders. Management expects that the
combination will be accretive to revenues and earnings for the calendar year
2001 consolidated operating results.
Jefferies & Co. acted as exclusive financial advisor to FreeRealTime.com on the
transaction and Roth Capital Partners advised RedChip.com.
ABOUT FREEREALTIME.COM
FreeRealTime.com, Inc. is a leading digital financial media company, empowering
investors with the information and tools they need in order to make
knowledgeable-investment decisions. The FreeRealTime.com Web site delivers an
extensive array of stock market data, business information, communication tools,
and sophisticated research and investment management tools for institutional
investors, brokers and independent investors. Launched in 1998, the
FreeRealTime.com community now has 1.3 million members. FreeRealTime.com has
been recognized as a leader by CNBC, Online Investor, Forbes, The Wall Street
Journal and The Los Angeles Times. Visit FreeRealTime.com's Web site at
http://www.freerealtime.com.
ABOUT REDCHIP.COM
RedChip.com, Inc.(TM) is a vertical portal serving "Tomorrow's Blue Chips" and
their investors. The Company publishes proprietary equity research on nearly 270
companies under The RedChip Review(R) banner, as well as information about the
small-cap markets and individual companies under the RedChip Reporter(TM),
RedChip Radar(TM), and RedChip Profile(TM) trademarks. RedChip.com(TM) was
recently recognized by Forbes' "Best of the Web" as the "Best of the Best" top
small-cap site. Forbes' staff evaluated over 5,000 Web sites and grouped the
best of these into more than 90 categories. Specifically, Forbes found that
investors value the RedChip(TM) site for the quality of its independent research
and for the breadth and depth of information presented to investors,
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including research coverage on 275 companies, more than 5,000 investment
profiles, small-cap news and commentary, real-time trading information, and
webcast research conferences and management presentations. In addition, RedChip
analysts' recommendations have consistently outperformed major benchmarks.
Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, RedChip.com also has offices in Minneapolis,
San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. Visit RedChip.com's Web site at
http://www.redchip.com/.
Safe Harbor. Except for any historical information contained herein, the matters
discussed in this news release contain forward-looking statements that involve
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Matters relating to the
Company's traffic, business expansion and initiatives, subscriber growth, and
site usage reflect current information and involve certain risks and
uncertainties, including, without limitation, changes in product demand, changes
in competition and other economic conditions. These statements may or may not be
indicative of future demand and developments. Risks and uncertainties are
described in the company's filings with the SEC. Prospective investors are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
FreeRealTime.com undertakes no obligation to update or release publicly the
result of any revisions to these statements that may be made to reflect future
events, developments or circumstances.
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