<PAGE>
Exhibit 99.1
RoweCom Enters Agreement With Holders of Convertible Notes
WESTWOOD, Mass.--May 30, 2000--RoweCom Inc. (Nasdaq:ROWE) today announced
that it has negotiated an agreement with the two holders of the company's
convertible notes to redeem their outstanding balances.
Under the agreement RoweCom will complete a series of cash payments by June
9, 2000 to redeem the $16.1 million outstanding balance of the notes
including conversion premium and accrued interest. The note holders,
represented by Promethean Asset Management, LLC, and Angelo Gordon & Co., LP,
have agreed not to convert any more of their notes. Over the past four
trading days they had converted approximately $5.7 million of principal and
interest into an aggregate of approximately 1.5 million shares.
"This agreement with our convertible note holders resolves a difficult
situation that was exacerbated by recent market volatility," said Dr. Richard
R. Rowe, chairman and chief executive officer of RoweCom Inc. "I am pleased
that we have been able to resolve this matter. The fundamentals of our
business remain strong. Now we can again focus our attention on meeting the
current and evolving needs of our clients for the wide range knowledge
resources they need to work smarter in today's rapidly changing world."
Investors wishing to listen to RoweCom's conference call may access the call
on the investor relations' section of the company's Web site located at
www.rowe.com. The call will begin at 10:00 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 30 and
requires RealPlayer 7.
ABOUT ROWECOM
A first mover in business-to-business e-commerce, RoweCom develops and
operates global web-based solutions that enable knowledge-based organizations
to purchase, manage, and use comprehensive knowledge resources such as
magazines, newspapers, journals, and books. RoweCom's flagship services,
kStore (Knowledge Store) and kLibrary (Knowledge Library), allow
organizations to order, pay for, and manage from catalogs containing over
200,000 subscription titles as well as millions of discounted books via
RoweCom partner barnesandnoble.com. With over 17,000 clients ranging from
Fortune 1000 companies to academic research libraries, colleges and small
businesses, RoweCom serves organizations with intensive knowledge
requirements and high-volume purchases. RoweCom is a publicly held company
headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts with offices in the U.S., Canada,
Europe and Asia. For more information, visit the RoweCom Website at
www.rowe.com.
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed
in this news release may contain forward-looking statements made under the
safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties.
RoweCom's actual results may differ materially from the results discussed in
the forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such a difference
include, but are not limited to, those discussed in the Company's SEC filings.
CONTACT: RoweCom Inc.
Dean Ridlon, 617/497-5800
[email protected]
or
Investor Contact
Makovsky & Co.
Joshua Wenderoff, 212/508-9674
[email protected]
or
Media Contact
Makovsky & Co.
Joanne Gallucci, 212/508-9648
[email protected]
