EXHIBIT 99.1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dermot O'Grady
MathSoft, Inc.
(617) 577-1017 x821
[email protected]
MATHSOFT RE-FOCUSES ON SOFTWARE AND SERVICES
Announces Imminent Closing of FreeScholarships.com Web Site
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-September 15, 2000-MathSoft, Inc. (NASDAQ: MATH), the
provider of the broadest line of technical calculation and analytical software
for business and academia, today announced the imminent closing of its highly
acclaimed Internet venture, FreeScholarships.com. In conjunction with the
shutdown, planned for September 30th, 2000, the company announced the
elimination of 16 full-time positions plus a small number of contractors and
consultants. The Company also noted that 199 employees in the Software divisions
would not be affected.
Although the company is actively soliciting buyers for the various assets of
this business, the company is planning to book a charge during its fiscal third
quarter ending September 30, 2000. This charge will range from $1.7 million to
$1.9 million. FreeScholarships.com contributed $297,000 or approximately 2% of
the Company's $15,675,000 revenue for the six months ended June 30,2000.
"FreeScholarships.com has made its mark in a very short period of time,"
said Charles Digate, president and CEO of MathSoft Inc. "However, market
conditions have changed dramatically since the site launched in February of this
year, making it impossible to adequately fund this business model going forward.
Therefore, we have chosen to refocus MathSoft on software and services. The
company's core software businesses should enable MathSoft to return to
profitable growth beginning in the 4th quarter of this year."
ABOUT MATHSOFT, INC.
Founded in 1984, MathSoft is the provider of the broadest line of technical
calculation and analytical software for business and academia. With MathSoft's
products, users can deploy technical calculations and exploratory data analyses
across their entire organizations. The company has two million users of its
Mathcad , StudyWorks!, S-PLUS , StatServer and Axum software worldwide. Axum,
S-PLUS, StatServer, Mathcad and StudyWorks! are registered trademarks and the
MathSoft logo is a trademark of MathSoft, Inc. FreeScholarships.com is a
trademark of FreeScholarships.com Inc., a subsidiary of MathSoft Inc. All other
names or marks may be registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective
owners.
<PAGE>
