EXHIBIT 99.1
[NAVARRE CORPORATION LOGO]
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Jim Gilbertson, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
763-535-8333
jgilbert@navarre.com
Cary Deacon, COO Licensing & Publishing Joyce Fleck, VP Marketing
763-535-8333 763-535-8333
cdeacon@navarre.com jfleck@navarre.com
Michael Shelling, Encore
1-310-719-2846,
mshelling@encoreusa.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NAVARRE'S ENCORE SUBSIDIARY SIGNS EXCLUSIVE CO-
PUBLISHING AGREEMENT WITH RIVERDEEP INC.
Encore to Manage the Majority of Riverdeep Interactive Retail Products
Full Management to Commence Early 2005
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - APRIL 13, 2004 - Navarre Corporation's (NASDAQ: NAVR)
subsidiary Encore Software, LLC and Riverdeep Inc., a Limited Liability Company,
a leading developer of interactive products in the education and productivity
markets, today announced that they have reached an exclusive co-publishing
agreement for the sales and marketing of Riverdeep products in the United States
for a majority of the retail marketplace. Encore will assume Riverdeep's total
United States retail channel management commencing in early 2005.
Under the terms of this five-year agreement, Encore will be responsible for the
sales, marketing and distribution of Riverdeep interactive content, including
computer software, interactive DVD products and other interactive electronic
educational products to a majority of the U.S. retail channel and transitioning
to the total retail channel in early 2005. Riverdeep will continue to focus on
content development, as well as sales directly to schools, direct to consumer,
OEM and premium markets. The Company expects this strategic relationship to add
approximately $35 million in annual publishing revenue and be accretive to
earnings in Fiscal Year 2005.
Eric Paulson, Chairman & CEO of Navarre commented, "We are extremely pleased
with the Riverdeep agreement and are confident we can assist them with their
plans to build even stronger brand equity and increased market share in the
U.S."
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Simon Calver, Riverdeep COO stated, "As we continue to develop innovative
content and expand our brands onto other interactive platforms, it was crucial
that we find the right partner, one that would enable us to focus more on our
core strengths, and also ensure a seamless transition of service and support for
our retail customers." Calver continued, "Encore's strength in the areas of
sales and marketing, their emphasis on 3rd party publishing, and Navarre's
world-class distribution infrastructure make them the ideal choice to help us
continue to build both brand equity and market share for Riverdeep properties in
the U.S. retail market."
The Novato, California, based company is best known for its strong consumer
productivity and education titles published under the Broderbund and The
Learning Company labels. Riverdeep's best-selling brands include The Print Shop,
Print Master, 3D Home Architect, Reader Rabbit(R), Mavis Beacon and Kid Pix,
some of which have been successfully published for over 20 years. Riverdeep
products are sold in thousands of stores nationwide, including leading major
retailers. According to NPD Data for 2003, Riverdeep held the number one market
share position within the education and desktop publishing market categories
based on sales.
"Since being acquired by Navarre in August 2002, it has been Encore's core
mission to become the leading publisher of 3rd party content in North America,"
says Michael Bell, Encore CEO. "Aligning ourselves with strong publishing and
content providers has been integral to fulfilling this objective. We're
extremely excited about our relationship with Riverdeep; it is the ideal union
of their top-tier brands and content with our expertise in sales, marketing and
distribution at the retail level."
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Encore assumed retail fulfillment responsibilities for Riverdeep's existing
titles on April 1, 2004.
ABOUT NAVARRE
Navarre Corporation (NASDAQ: NAVR) provides distribution and related services to
leading developers and retailers of home entertainment content. The company
operates under two business divisions; Distribution Services which includes PC
software, video games, CD audio and DVD video; Publishing which includes Encore.
Based in Los Angeles, CA, Encore is a majority-owned subsidiary of Navarre
Corporation (NASDAQ: NAVR), and a leading interactive publisher in the PC CD-ROM
and videogame markets. As a result of strategic relationships, the company
publishes PC titles or compilations in major software categories from
productivity to education. BCI Eclipse, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre
Corporation, which provides niche DVD video and audio products. Navarre's
client-specific delivery systems allow its product lines to be seamlessly
distributed to over 18,000 retail locations throughout North America. The
Company provides such value-added services as inventory management, Web-based
ordering, fulfillment and marketing and EDI customer and vendor interface. Since
its founding in 1983, Navarre has built a base of distribution partnerships with
a broad base of leading retailers across the mass merchant, music, computer and
office specialty, wholesale club and military PX channels, as well as software
content developers from all categories of the industry and independent record
labels encompassing all musical genres. For more information, please visit the
Company's Web sites at www.navarre.com.
ABOUT RIVERDEEP, A LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
Riverdeep Inc., a Limited Liability Company, is a leading publisher of
interactive products focusing on productivity, kids' entertainment, and
education markets for adults, children, and schools. Riverdeep's rich portfolio
of interactive award-winning products feature such well-known brands as The
Print Shop, Reader Rabbit, Carmen Sandiego and Destination Math. For more
information, visit www.riverdeep.net.
SAFE HARBOR
"The statements in this press release that are not strictly historical are
"forward looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities
Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are
intended to be covered by the safe harbors created by these sections. The
forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and the actual
results that the Company achieves may differ materially from these
forward-looking statements due to such risks and uncertainties, including, but
not limited to, the Company's dependence upon a limited number of large
customers that account for a significant part of its business, developments in
the retail and consumer markets for prerecorded music products and computer
software products, the Company's ability to successfully increase its sales of
video and DVD products, retail consumer buying patterns, the ability of the
Company and the music industry generally to maintain or increase sales in light
of the wide-spread internet-based music swapping and file sharing by consumers,
new and different competition in the Company's traditional and new markets,
seasonality in its business and the fact that a large portion of the Company's
revenues have traditionally been related to the holiday selling season, the
Company's ability to successfully act as distributor to on-line retailers, the
Company's ability to manage its inventory, the Company's dependence upon
recording labels and artists, the Company's dependence upon obtaining and
maintaining license agreements with software publishers, the Company's ability
to react to changes in the distribution of software and prerecorded music, the
Company's dependence upon a key employee, namely, Eric H. Paulson, Chairman of
the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer who has been with the Company
since its inception in 1983, the ability of the Company's majority-owned
subsidiary Encore Software, Inc, a videogame and CD-ROM publisher, to
successfully develop and distribute new and existing products, the ability of
the Company to integrate the business of BCI Eclipse, and the ability of BCI
Eclipse to develop and distribute DVD/Video products.
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A detailed statement of risks and uncertainties is contained in the Company's
reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in particular the
Company's Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2003. Investors and
shareholders are urged to read this document carefully. The Company can offer no
assurances that any projections, assumptions or forecasts made or discussed in
this release, "NAVARRE'S ENCORE SUBSIDIARY SIGNS EXCLUSIVE CO-PUBLISHING
AGREEMENT WITH RIVERDEEP INC.", dated April 13, 2004, will be met, and investors
should understand the risks of investing solely due to such projections. The
Company undertakes no obligation to revise any forward- looking statements in
order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this
press release.
Investors and shareholders may obtain free copies of the public filings through
the website maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov or at one of the SEC's
other public reference rooms in New York, New York or Chicago, Illinois. Please
call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information with respect to the SEC's
public reference rooms. Free copies of these documents may be obtained by
contacting Kathy Conlin at 763-535-8333.
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