Two market leaders to join forces as XING acquires amiando

XING AG (O1BC / ISIN DE000XNG888), based in Hamburg, Germany, is the leading social network for business professionals. Today the company announced its acquisition of amiando AG, based in Munich, Germany, effective as of January 1, 2011. amiando is the leading provider of online event management and ticketing services in Europe with some 100,000 events successfully organized and processed via the platform in 2009. This move puts XING in a position to offer its more than 10 million members integrated business event services ranging from organization to marketing, billing and execution. The acquisition price comprises a number of components. At the time of acquisition, XING AG will initially pay appr. EUR 5.1 million. An additional payment of up to EUR 5.25 million will also be made on March 31, 2013, if various conditions are met. Examples of these conditions include the current management team remaining within the company and the achievement of specific revenue and profit targets.

Stefan Gross-Selbeck, CEO at XING AG, said: “Acquiring amiando gives XING an opportunity to meet its members’ growing need for an integrated, comprehensive event registration and ticketing service. In 2009 alone, our members organized and marketed more than 150,000 events via the XING platform. From now on, we can offer them all of the services they need including efficient registration, ticketing and billing. This in turn allows us to tap into a highly lucrative and market currently experiencing rapid growth.” amiando is a pioneer when it comes to online event management and ticketing services with tens of thousands of event organizers all over the world using amiando to manage invitations, promote events online, handle the event registration process, host integrated billing services, and manage event entry. All of the tools are available online, can be used straight away, and do not require any form of software installation. amiando has been awarded a number of prizes for its innovative products such as “Technology Pioneer 2010” by the World Economic Forum in Davos, various awards as a start-up by the magazines “Red Herring” and “Wirtschaftswoche”, and best business customer portal in the form of the “eco Internet Award”. amiando is currently available in English, German, Spanish and French, and is aimed at both business and private customers which, together with the above points, makes amiando an ideal addition to XING’s strategy. Felix Haas, CEO at amiando AG, said: “XING and amiando’s business strategies run in parallel with one another and offer huge synergy effects. This became clear right at the start of the negotiation process, and really caught the attention of the amiando management team. The XING platform’s reach and amiando’s technology and market position go together to make a perfect combination in the business event segment that will provide XING’s members with new, relevant added value. This is of course something the newly forged team intends to build on going forward.” amiando has a staff of 35, all of whom will retain their jobs. Felix Haas will continue in his position as CEO at amiando. During the negotiation process XING was supported by Altium, while amiando was assisted by Parklane Capital.

About XING
XING.com is the place to be for online business networking. Millions of members use the platform every day to do business and promote their career. XING makes networking and professional contact management simple. This can be seen by the exceptionally high levels of activity the platform enjoys. Members can meet and exchange views in over 40,000 specialist groups, while also getting together at networking events to share their contacts, skills and expertise. A XING network is defined by trust - It boosts members’ career prospects while acting as a recruiting portal for both companies looking to fill vacancies and qualified professionals interested in a new challenge. The platform is operated by XING AG and is the only network in the world to offer full SSL encryption. XING AG is a listed company with headquarters in Hamburg and key strategic offices in Barcelona and Istanbul. Please visit www.xing.com for more information.