artnet.com implements cost cutting program

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About Us | Press Releases | January 18, 2001

artnet refocuses on core business

Relaunches home page, suspends B2C art sales

Frankfurt, January 18, 2001 - artnet AG of Frankfurt and New York today announced a relaunch of its home page, marking a shift in its strategic focus to its core business of providing business services to the professional art community. As part of this action it suspended indefinitely its business-to-consumer products, the art auctions and direct art retail sales.

The measures mark the conclusion of a major cost-cutting program undertaken to reduce the burn rate to a manageable level and achieve profitability more quickly. As previously announced, the company expects to reach break-even in the forth quarter, with breakeven on cash basis achieved somewhat earlier.

The key elements of artnet's business moving forward are:

Online Gallery Network, a 365/24/7 virtual art fair, that serves dealers and art buyers alike in providing a survey of the art market, its pricing and trends and providing the means to communicate images instantly, inexpensively and globally
Artnet Magazine, a free, daily online trade magazine edited by renown art critic and journalist Walter Robinson
The auctions databases, the expert's tool to value art objects, provide the definitive source of auction price records in both fine art and African art
The fine art bookstore, featuring hard-to-find art books, including catalogues raisonns numbering 21,000 titles

The new streamlined home page design has Artnet Magazine as its centerpiece, and offers clear and quick access to the 1,300 international gallery members, 37,000 works of art, and over 13,000 artists the fine art web site represents. The Fine Art Auctions Database (FAAD) is also undergoing a complete redesign and will be re-launched within a few days. This newly enhanced entrance into The World's Art Marketplace solidifies the company's long-standing commitment to modernizing the art business.

For further information/ Ansprechpartner:

Hans Neuendorf
Chief Executive Officer
61 Broadway, 23rd Floor
New York, NY 10006

Tel: 001-212-497-9700 x638
Fax: (1) 212-497-9707
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