Exhibit 99
Cisneros EL SITIO Ibero-American
Television Group Media Partners
(CTG) (IAMP)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CLAXSON INTERACTIVE GROUP FILES PRELIMINARY MERGER
PROXY/PROSPECTUS
New York, NY, Miami Beach, FL, and Buenos Aires, Argentina - January 12, 2001 -
Claxson Interactive Group, the new entity to be formed from the proposed
business combination of the media businesses of Ibero-American Media Partners
(IAMP), a joint venture of the Cisneros Group of Companies and Hicks, Muse,
Tate & Furst Incorporated, and parent company of Cisneros Television Group,
with El Sitio (Nasdaq: LCTO), today filed a preliminary proxy statement/
prospectus related to the transaction in a registration statement
on Form F-4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The preliminary proxy statement/prospectus is subject to SEC review, after
which El Sitio will hold a special meeting of El Sitio shareholders to vote
on the transaction. If approved by the El Sitio shareholders, upon
completion of the transaction Claxson Interactive Group is expected to trade
on the Nasdaq National Market under the new symbol "CLSN". As previously
announced, El Sitio shareholders owning a majority of the outstanding El
Sitio common shares have agreed to vote in favor of the combination.
Under the terms of the merger agreement, which has been approved by IAMP and
the board of directors of El Sitio, each outstanding El Sitio common share
will be exchanged for one new Class A common share of Claxson Interactive
Group. The ownership of the combined company's shares will be: 37% by
members of the Cisneros Group of Companies; 29% by funds affiliated with
Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Incorporated; and 34% by current shareholders of El
Sitio (excluding IAMP).
The parties to the transaction currently anticipate that it will be completed
before the end of March 2001.
About Ibero-American Media Partners
Formed in 1998, Ibero-American Media Partners ("IAMP") is a joint venture
between the Cisneros Group of Companies and funds affiliated with Hicks,
Muse, Tate & Furst Incorporated, that acquires and develops entertainment and
media content properties throughout Ibero America in pay television,
broadcast television and radio, and Internet.
About Cisneros Television Group
Cisneros Television Group, a member of the Cisneros Group of Companies, is
focused on the creation of entertainment brands throughout the world. CTG's
holdings include Locomotion(tm), a partnership with Hearst Corporation; and
Playboy TV Latin America(tm) and Spice(tm), as well as Playboy TV
International, a joint venture with Playboy Enterprises, Inc. to create
Playboy(tm) branded channels worldwide. In a partnership with AEI Music, CTG
has created AEI Music Latin America to provide music services to pay
television platforms and retailers throughout the region. CTG has also
entered into a strategic alliance with ARTISTdirect to form a music portal
providing music entertainment and information through an integrated network
of Web sites. In addition, CTG owns eight pay TV channels in Ibero America
covering the movie, music, documentary, series, educational and comedy
genres. Cisneros Television Group in Argentina and the Southern Cone
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countries also distributes the successful news network Cronica, and owns one
of Latin America's largest and most important film libraries.
About El Sitio
El Sitio, Inc. (Nasdaq: LCTO) is a leading Internet media company providing
original country-specific and global interactive content and community-
building features, e-commerce and connectivity to Spanish and Portuguese
speakers. El Sitio is designed as an Internet media destination network
(www.elsitio.com) that consists of country Web sites for Argentina, Brazil,
Chile, Colombia, Mexico, the United States, Uruguay and Venezuela. El Sitio's
network was recently selected by Yahoo! Internet Life magazine as the top
Latino web destination in its 2001 ranking of Internet sites.
# # #
The registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, but has not become effective. These
securities may not be issued prior to the time the registration statement
becomes effective. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell
or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these
securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be
unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of
any such state.
For Further Information:
Cisneros Television Group
Alfredo Richard
305-894-3588
[email protected]
El Sitio
Erich De la Fuente
011-5411-4339-3700 ext. 3713
[email protected]
Or
Jeff Majtyka/Jennifer Gery
Brainerd Communicators, Inc.
212-986-6667
[email protected]
[email protected]
