| BEIJING, CHINA, October 31, 2000
- Chinese Internet portal SOHU.com (Nasdaq: SOHU) today announced the closing of
its acquisition of the leading youth community web site ChinaRen.com. The
closing, which formally took place on October 18, puts the final touches on the
acquisition, which has created the largest Internet portal in Mainland China
measured by a combined registered user base of 9.2 million and daily page views
of 64 million.
A total of 4.4 million shares were issued to the former stockholders of
ChinaRen.com. The former ChinaRen stockholders will be granted registration
rights, but have agreed not to sell any of their shares for 180 days after the
closing of the acquisition.
The transaction was accounted for as a purchase, with approximately US$ 30
million to be booked as intangibles resulting from the acquisition. The
amortization period for intangibles will range from three to five years.
Both web sites (www.sohu.com and www.chinaren.com) focus exclusively on the
country-specific Internet needs of Mainland China and have complementary product
and user bases. While SOHU.com serves a mass audience with its strong
comprehensive content and search capabilities, ChinaRen.com has a loyal
following among the urban youth with innovative and sticky community
services.
The combined company continues to attract new users to its web sites at a
rapid pace. Since the initial announcement of the acquisition agreement on
September 14, page views of the combined web sites have grown from 44 million to
64 million as of this release. The registered user base has increased from 7.8
million to 9.2 million as of this release.
"While we contractually agreed to acquire ChinaRen.com by November 15, 2000,
we have closed the transaction less than three weeks into the new quarter and
five weeks after the original announcement. This is indicative of how eager both
sides are to integrate the two companies and fully exploit the opportunities
that the booming Chinese Internet market offers," said Dr. Charles Zhang, CEO
and President of SOHU.com.
The founders of ChinaRen.com continue their roles in the ChinaRen division,
while taking up new responsibilities in the combined company. Joe Chen is
responsible for strategic planning and product direction while continuing as CEO
of the ChinaRen division. Yunfan Zhou is supervising content operations for the
combined company and continues as COO of the ChinaRen division. Nick Yang
continues as CTO of the ChinaRen division.
SOHU.com also announced that Tom Gurnee, the company's CFO, intends to return
to the United States at the end of the year, and will then no longer serve as
CFO. He has been appointed to the Board of Directors effective immediately.
Derek Palaschuk, Vice President Controller, has been promoted to Vice President
Finance and will assume full responsibility for finance and accounting effective
upon Mr. Gurnee's departure.
"I am happy to have seen SOHU.com through an initial public offering and the
major milestone of the ChinaRen acquisition. But it will be nice to see my
family again. I am pleased to be appointed as a member of the Board of Directors
because it allows me to continue my involvement with the company for the longer
term," Mr. Gurnee said.
About SOHU.com
SOHU.com is the leading Internet portal in
Mainland China with current daily page views exceeding 12 million. It provides
navigation/search, news, sports, business and finance, real estate channel,
entertainment, chat, email and e-commerce activities for a solid and wide base
of visitors. Dr. Charles Zhang founded SOHU.com in 1997. Its investors include
Intel, Dow Jones, IDG, the Morningside China Group, PCCW, Legend and Hikari. Its
content partners include CNET, DOW Jones and dozens of local media organizations
in China.
For further information:
Dahlia Wei
SOHU Investor
Relations and Communications
Tel: +86 10 6272 6598
E-mail:
ir@sohu-inc.com
http://www.sohu.com/about/English/ | 
