SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D)
OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) - June 16, 1999
Sotheby's Holdings, Inc.
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(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Michigan 1-9750 38-2478409
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(State or other jurisdiction of (Commission File Number) (IRS Employer
incorporation or organization) Identification No.)
500 North Woodward Avenue, Suite 100
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48304
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(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (248) 646-2400
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ITEM 5. OTHER EVENTS
Attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and incorporated by reference herein is a press
release issued by Sotheby's Holding's Inc. on June 16, 1999 relating to a
strategic alliance with Amazon.com Inc.
ITEM 7. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, PRO-FORMA FINANCIAL INFORMATION AND EXHIBITS
(c) Exhibits
Exhibit No. Description
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99.1 Press Release issued June 16, 1999
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SOTHEBY'S HOLDINGS, INC.
AND SUBSIDIARIES
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Company
has duly caused this report to be signed this the 25th day of June, 1999, on its
behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized and in the capacity
indicated.
SOTHEBY'S HOLDINGS, INC.
By: /s/ Joseph A. Domonkos
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Joseph A. Domonkos
Vice President, Controller
And Chief Accounting Officer
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EXHIBIT INDEX
Exhibit No. Description
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99.1 Press Release issued June 16, 1999
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EXHIBIT 99.1
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED ON JUNE 16, 1999
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sotheby's: Diana Phillips
Matthew Weigman
(212) 606-7176
Amazon.com: Sharon Greenspan
(206) 834-7180
SOTHEBY'S AND AMAZON.COM CONNECT IN STRATEGIC AUCTION ALLIANCE
--JOINT ONLINE AUCTION SITE TO OFFER GUARANTEE OF AUTHENTICITY AND CONDITION--
NEW YORK, June l6 - - Sotheby's Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BID) and Amazon.com, Inc.
(NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced that they will launch a joint online auction
site, sothebys.amazon.com. This ten-year alliance between the world's leading
e-commerce company and the international art auction house, each founded --25l
years apart-- as book sellers, will create a new standard in online buying and
selling of authenticated and guaranteed auction property.
The joint site will provide an opportunity for thousands of dealers in
collectibles and general art and antiques to participate in an Internet
marketplace of unparalleled reach and quality. Sellers on this joint auction
site will have the opportunity to market to Amazon.com's more than l0 million
customers with the benefit of Sotheby's 255-year art and auction expertise.
The joint site is devoted to the general antiques collector and to the world of
collectibles. It will feature coins, stamps, sports and Hollywood memorabilia,
fashion, animation art, toys, dolls and other collectibles, as well as general
art and antiques, books and jewelry. All auction property will be offered by
Sotheby's and a select network of dealers and other art world professionals. The
authenticity and condition of all auctioned property will be guaranteed by the
sellers. Hosted on www.amazon.com/auctions, the new site is expected to launch
later this year with an auction of items from the Halper Collection of baseball
memorabilia, a portion of which will be sold in a live auction at Sotheby's
newly renovated New York galleries in September.
"With Sotheby's reputation and expertise in sourcing and authenticating art and
valuable objects, and both companies' relentless focus on the customer, we plan
to make this the most trusted and popular online auction site," said Jeff Bezos,
founder and CEO, Amazon.com. "In the world of valuable objects, a big problem
with online auctions has been authenticity. Who better to help solve that
problem than Sotheby's?"
"Amazon.com brings us the best online technology, the most superb customer
service and the largest number of e-commerce customers in the world," said Diana
D. Brooks, President and CEO of Sotheby's. "We could not ask for more in an
internet partner."
In addition to the joint site, Sotheby's will continue its www.sothebys.com
site, which will begin offering traditional fine and decorative art, jewelry and
books online this fall, and Amazon.com will continue its popular auctions site,
Amazon.com Auctions. More than 2,800 of the finest dealers from around the world
have already signed up for www.sothebys.com. They will now also be able to
participate in the new joint auction site. Combined, these three sites create
the most comprehensive and powerful Internet marketplace for art, antiques and
collectibles. Auction enthusiasts and collectors will be able to access all
three sites by clicking through www.amazon.com/auctions, or through
www.sothebys.com.
The two companies also announced that Amazon.com has agreed to purchase (subject
to customary closing conditions) one million shares of Sotheby's Holdings Class
"A" Common Stock at $35.44 per share, the June l4, l999 closing price.
Amazon.com has also agreed to purchase, for a total price of $l0 million,
three-year warrants to purchase an additional one million shares at $l00 per
share. Amazon.com's total investment in Sotheby's is approximately $45 million.
Sellers can receive further information by visiting www.amazon.com/auctions or
www.sothebys.com or: in the U.S. by calling Sotheby's at 2l2-606-7979 or by
e-mail at [email protected]; and in Europe by calling 44 171 293 6080 or by
e-mail at [email protected].
A press briefing will be held today AT 10:00 A.M. at Sotheby's New York
headquarters at l334 York Avenue (corner of 72nd Street) in the main salesroom.
Journalists who plan to attend should call 2l2-606-7l76.
ABOUT AMAZON.COM
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), the Internet's No. 1 music, No. 1 video, and
No. 1 book retailer, opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web in July 1995
and today offers Earth's Biggest SelectionTM with free electronic greeting
cards, online auctions, and more than 4.7 million book, music-CD, video, DVD,
and computer-game titles. Amazon.com seeks to be the world's most
customer-centric company, where people can find and discover anything they may
want to buy online. As part of its efforts to provide the best shopping
experience for customers, Amazon.com provides secure credit-card payment,
personalized recommendations, streamlined ordering through 1-ClickSM technology,
and easy auction bidding with Bid-ClickSM.
Amazon.com operates two international Web sites: www.amazon.co.uk in the United
Kingdom and www.amazon.de in Germany. Amazon.com also operates PlanetAll
(www.planetall.com), a Web-based address book, calendar, and reminder service.
It also operates the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), the Web's
comprehensive and authoritative source of information on more than 150,000
movies and entertainment programs and 500,000 cast and crew members dating from
the birth of film in 1892 to the present. Amazon.com also operates LiveBid.com
(www.livebid.com), the sole provider of live-event auctions on the Internet.
In addition, Amazon.com has invested in leading Internet retailers that are
improving the lives of customers by making shopping easier and more convenient:
drugstore.com, an online retail and information source for health, beauty,
wellness, personal care and pharmacy, at www.drugstore.com; Pets.com, the
largest pet-supply company on the Internet and a valuable source of free
information for pet owners, at www.pets.com; HomeGrocer.com, the first fully
integrated Internet grocery-shopping and home-delivery service, with operations
in Seattle and Portland, Oregon, at www.homegrocer.com.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties that include, among others, Amazon.com's limited operating
history, anticipated losses, unpredictability of future revenues, potential
fluctuations in quarterly operating results, seasonality, consumer trends,
competition, risks of system interruption, management of potential growth, risks
related to auction services, and risks of new business areas, international
expansion, business combinations, and strategic alliances. More information
about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is
included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1998
and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 1999.
Amazon.com, Amazon.com Auctions, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Internet Movie
Database, PlanetAll, Earth's Biggest Selection, Bid-Click and 1-Click are either
registered trademarks or trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates. All
other names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
ABOUT SOTHEBY'S
Sotheby's began as a book auction house in London in 1744. Today the company has
107 offices located in 41 countries, with principal salesrooms in New York and
London. Sotheby's conducts auctions in 18 other salerooms and sells nearly
200,000 lots a year in more than 80 collecting categories.
In January of 1999 Sotheby's announced the launch of sothebys.com, a new
Internet auction business for art, antiques, jewelry and collectibles. The
company's headquarters in New York is currently being expanded to become a
ten-floor, state of the art auction and cultural destination. The top six floors
will be complete this September and the re-designed building will give New York
a major new arts venue when it is completed next year. Sotheby's London is the
main European facility and the company has recently expanded operations in
Paris, Amsterdam and Zurich.
Memorable auctions in Sotheby's 255-year-history include the sale of the library
of Napoleon (1811); the sale of van Gogh's Irises for $53 million, Renoir's Au
Moulin de la Galette for $78 million; the auction of the Grand Ducal Collections
of the Margrave of Baden Baden and the Princely Collections of the Thurn und
Taxis Family. More recently, the company has auctioned the Estate of Jacqueline
Kennedy Onassis in 1996, the Collection of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor in
1997, the $60.5 million sale of Cezanne's magnificent still life from the estate
of Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Whitney which brought more than $l70 million and the
contents of Chateau de Groussay this month in France, which brought $26 million.
Besides the traditional live auction business, Sotheby's Financial Services
provides art-related financing secured by works of art, Sotheby's Ventures
arranges private sales of art work. Sotheby's International Realty provides
brokerage, marketing and consulting services for luxury properties and through
Sotheby's Insurance Brokerage Services clients can obtain a fine and decorative
arts policy which can be extended to cover homes purchased through Sotheby's
Realty.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This release contains certain "forward-looking statements" (as such term is
defined in the Securities Exchange Act of l934, as amended) relating to future
events. Such statements are only predictions and involve risks and
uncertainties, resulting in the possibility that the actual events or
performance will differ materially from such predictions. Major factors which
the Company believes could cause the actual results to differ materially from
the predicted results in the "forward-looking statements" include competition in
the internet auction business, consumer trends and risks of systems
interruption.
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