Exhibit 99.1
CRITICAL PATH COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF AMPLITUDE SOFTWARE CORP.
Critical Path Moving Quickly To Offer A Complete Spectrum Of Messaging
Solutions Offering Customers Ultimate In Flexibility, Functionality and Choice
SAN FRANCISCO, California (August 31, 1999) -- Critical Path, Inc. (Nasdaq:
CPTH), a leading provider of business-to-business Internet messaging solutions,
today announced it has successfully completed the acquisition of Amplitude
Software Corp., a leading provider of Internet calendar and resource scheduling
solutions. Critical Path previously announced a definitive acquisition agreement
to acquire Amplitude on June 23, 1999.
Amplitude brings a key component to Critical Path's growth strategy and
reinforces Critical Path's leadership in offering a complete spectrum of
messaging solutions to complement its core email hosting solution. Amplitude,
founded in 1996, offers a proven suite of web-based calendaring and resource
scheduling applications built for maximum scalability, unparalleled performance
and ubiquitous access. By integrating Amplitude's leading-edge business
applications with its proprietary email outsourcing solution, Critical Path will
offer customers one of the most robust integrated messaging platforms with
increased functionality, flexibility and choice.
"Critical Path is committed to maintaining its leadership position and
offering a full range of advanced messaging solutions that satisfies the broad
range of email and messaging demands presented by customers and prospects," said
Doug Hickey, Critical Path's president and CEO. "We are aggressively moving to
leverage our first-mover, leadership position, and quickly bring to market an
integrated messaging platform providing customers with the most comprehensive
and robust solutions. Amplitude's calendar and resource sharing solutions add a
critical layer of value on top of our formidable messaging platform as well as
an impressive customer list to the Critical Path family."
Amplitude's customer list boasts more than 275 customers across a wide
range of industries. During the first half of 1999, Amplitude drove impressive
growth increasing revenues more than 100% quarter-to-quarter and winning new
Fortune 1000 customers exemplifying the growing demand for Web-based messaging
solutions that improve enterprise communications and optimize corporate
resources. Recent customers include Arthur Anderson, Ascend, FreeMarkets,
Hewlett Packard, Nokia, Pharmacia & Upjohn, Pitney Bowes, and Sprint. The
customers join an already impressive customer base of Chevron, Bristol-Myers
Squibb, Monsanto, KPMG, Kraft Foods, Lucent, and Macy's.
Expanded Services to Meet Customer Needs
Email has become a pivotal, compelling form of communication for
individuals and the business world. According to industry reports, as many as
148 million corporate users relying on email as a primary form of communication.
This explosive global trend shows no signs of abatement with the number of users
expected to grow to 300 million by next year. The ubiquitous nature of email has
also spawned corporations and business to look for news ways to leverage the
Internet to improve communications and maximize corporate resources.
By offering services such as integrated calendaring, Critical Path is
leading the messaging revolution providing customers with new ways to utilize
the Internet. Services such as calendaring will extend Critical Path's
relationships with current customers, attract new customers and differentiate
Critical Path in the email service provider market. These services also allow
Critical Path to target a larger market opportunity through its expanded
"midsource" strategy. This strategy enables enterprises that have chosen in
house email solutions to selectively outsource and take advantage of new
messaging services without altering their existing IT infrastructure.
Outsourcing and midsourcing applications provide many benefits to customers
such as access to the most advanced email and messaging systems available, while
reducing the typical infrastructure and support costs, faster time to market,
and scalability to meet business growth, giving businesses and ISPs of all sizes
an alternative to purchasing, deploying and managing messaging applications
internally.
The total value of the Amplitude transaction is estimated to be $215
million comprised of cash and stock. Critical Path plans to extend its services
by offering other premium services such as unified messaging, guaranteed
delivery, advanced directory services, permanent archiving and instant
messaging.
About Critical Path, Inc.
Critical Path, Inc. (Nasdaq: CPTH) is a leading provider of business-
to-business Internet messaging solutions for corporations, Internet service
providers (ISPs), Web hosting companies, and Web portals. Critical Path has
built an industry-leading global infrastructure with data centers connected to
key Internet exchange points, and currently reaches millions of end-users
through its customer relationships. Critical Path provides reliable, secure, and
scalable email, and a flexible suite of enhanced messaging services to partners
such as E*TRADE, CompuServe, Network Solutions, U S West, Sprint, and ICQ.
Critical Path is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with offices in
locations nationwide and in Germany and the UK. More information on Critical
Path can be found at www.cp.net.
# # #
Critical Path is a service mark and the Critical Path logo is a trademark
of Critical Path, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective
holders.
The statements in this press release relating to matters that are not
historical are forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ
materially from these forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties facing
Critical Path are described in its prospectus dated June 1, 1999 and with its
periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov).
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