Press Releases

Press Releases
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June 2, 2006 - InfoUSA (NASDAQ: IUSA) completes Acquisition of Mokrynskidirect

Princeton, NJ-based investment bank Tucker Alexander represented Mokrynskidirect in its sale to InfoUSA, a leading provider of proprietary business and consumer databases and sales leads. Mokrynskidirect will join InfoUSA's blue chip group of list broker and list management companies, Walter Karl, Edith Roman and Millard Group.

Ed Mallin, President of the Donnelley Group, stated, "We are delighted the transaction has been completed and Mokrynskidirect is now part of our corporate family. We look forward to working closely with their client base, which encompasses major consumer catalog brands. We believe the scope of our direct mail and email services will add significant value to the Mokrynski client base and will allow their sales executives to offer a much broader suite of products and services. The knowledge and expertise of Mokrynski's management team and sales force in consumer marketing and business strategy will also add value to the Donnelley Marketing client base. Both teams are excited about the impact this transaction will have on the industry.

Mokrynskidirect will operate under the catalog division of InfoUSA's Donnelley Marketing, which includes list management/list brokerage firm Walter Karl, which it purchased in March 1998, business list provider Edith Roman Associates (acquired in June 2004), and Millard Group.

Mokrynskidirect, whose list clients are predominantly consumer print catalogs, will continue to operate independently. Dennis Bissig will remain president. Don Mokrynski, who founded the firm in 1978, will serve as a consultant for an unspecified period of time. "Their respected and experienced management team, with particular expertise in the consumer catalog arena (both direct mail and e-mail), will remain as is and manage the company independently," said Vin Gupta, CEO in a statement. "This strategy has worked very well for us. We don't change their name and we let them run their business like they did before the acquisition."

The deal strengthens InfoUSA’s reach to consumer and business marketers, says Ed Mallin, president of the Donnelly Group. This deal provides attractive cross-selling opportunities for The Company’s databases and other products through Mokrynskidirect's established distribution channels, particularly in the online space. Mallin added. "Not only are we interested in acquiring access to great customers but also acquiring internal talent."

May 12, 2006 - Encore Capital and Buckingham Capital acquire Collectibles Cataloger Fairfield Mint

Tucker Alexander represented Fairfield Mint, a print and Web cataloger of die-cast collectibles, in its sale to investment bank Encore Capital and New York-based private equity firm Buckingham Capital. Encore Capital was formed by Joseph Grabowski, formerly the chief executive of Brockton, MA-based Specialty Catalog, which mailed the Especially Yours and Paula Young wigs titles, until it was sold to Edgestone Capital in February 2005. Grabowski is the executive-in-residence and Fairfield Mint's president.
Fairfield Mint is the third largest direct marketer of die-cast automobile replicas in the U.S. In addition to replica automobiles it sells die-cast replicas of historic guns, fire engines, and other collectibles.
Encore Capital sees opportunities to mail deeper into the Fairfield Mint house file as well as to further develop its Website and explore business-to-business opportunities.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY Washington, D.C.	has acquired	THE HAMPTON-BROWN COMPANY Carmel, CA
Tucker Capital Corporation initiated the transaction, acted as financial advisor, and assisted in the negotiations on behalf of The National Geographic Society.

Princeton, NJ, February 28, 2006 – Tucker Capital Corporation announced that it represented National Geographic Society with its acquisition of The Hampton-Brown Company, a leading publisher of English as a Second Language learning materials for Pre-K through Grade 12. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Hampton-Brown’s founder Sherry Long was appointed to Chairman and CEO of the new National Geographic School Publishing Group and will report to John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic. This newly created division will combine Hampton-Brown’s imprint and its focus on meeting the needs of linguistically and culturally diverse student populations, with National Geographic School Publishing, who is a leader in the development of nonfiction, supplemental education materials.

December 2005 – Harlequin purchases BET Books from Black Entertainment Network

Tucker Capital Corporation advised and represented Harlequin Enterprises Ltd. with its acquisition of BET Books from Black Entertainment Network, a subsidiary of Viacom. This acquisition gives Harlequin three major African-American imprints: Arabesque (which was founded by Kensington Books in 1994 and sold to BET in 2000), Sepia and New Spirit. As part of the deal, Harlequin will take over the distribution of the imprints from Kensington.

Harlequin Enterprises Limited is the world's leading publisher of romance fiction and women's fiction. The Toronto-based Company publishes close to 110 titles a month in 27 languages in 95 international markets on six continents. These books are written by over 1,300 talented authors worldwide, offering women a broad range of reading from romance to psychological thrillers to relationship novels. Harlequin sold 130+ million books in 2005 — half overseas and a total of 96% outside Canada.

October 31, 2005 – 1-800-Flowers acquires Wind & Weather

Tucker Alexander, an affiliate of Tucker Capital Corporation initiated, advised and represented Wind & Weather, a leading multi-channel marketer of weather instruments, complemented by a diverse offering of other weather-related items, gifts and decorative accessories for home and garden in its sale to 1-800-Flowers. Wind & Weather’s products are sold directly to the consumer through the Company’s catalogs, website and retail store. The Company has been operating under the Wind & Weather banner for 29 years and is considered the premier purveyor of high quality instruments for the weather enthusiast.

For more than 25 years, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. (NASDAQ ticker symbol FLWS) has been providing customers around the world with the freshest flowers and finest selection of plants, gift baskets, gourmet foods and confections, and plush stuffed animals perfect for every occasion. The 1-800-FLOWERS.COM collection of brands also includes home decor and garden merchandise from Plow & Hearth® premium popcorn and specialty treats from The Popcorn Factory®; exceptional cookies and baked gifts from Cheryl&Co.®; gourmet foods from GreatFood.com®; children's gifts from HearthSong® and Magic Cabin®, and wine gifts from the WineTasting Network® .

April 8, 2005 - Wicks Medical Information, LLC purchases DesignWrite, Inc. and PharmaWrite, LLC

Tucker Capital Corporation initiated, advised and represented DesignWrite, Inc. in its sale to Wicks Medical Information, LLC. DesignWrite is a leading specialty healthcare communications, publishing and medical education company.

Established in 1993, DesignWrite provides pharmaceutical and biomedical clients with scientific educational programs, promotes evidence-based therapies in support of clients' existing products, and implements product launch and market expansion programs.

DesignWrite’s staff of experienced writers are working with Wicks Medical Information, LLC existing medical education companies, Medical Education Consultants, LLC, and Jobson Publishing, LLC. The combination of these three companies makes the Company one of the leading medical information providers in the U.S.

January 13, 2005 - Imaginova™ Corp. acquires Orion Telescope & Binoculars

Tucker Alexander, an affiliate of Tucker Capital Corporation initiated, advised and represented Orion Telescopes & Binoculars, the largest multi-channel marketer of telescopes, accessories and binoculars to the amateur and casual astronomer market in its sale to Imaginova™ Corp.

Founded in 1975 as Optronic Technologies, Inc., the Watsonville, California based Orion Telescopes & Binoculars has built a powerful brand identity for its Orion line of products. This line includes more than 60 models of telescopes, 50 styles of binoculars and more than 500 related accessories. Orion's products are sold directly to consumers through its catalogs, its state-of-the-art www.telescope.com e-commerce website and through leading specialty retailers. Orion has been consistently profitable throughout its 30 year history and its brand is synonymous with high quality, tremendous value and unparalleled customer service.

Tom Anglo, president of Orion Telescopes & Binoculars, said: "We are very excited about the opportunity to join forces with Imaginova. There are tremendous cross-selling opportunities and Imaginova's media properties will help us grow our customer base dramatically. We are anxious to take our business to the next level."

Imaginova™ Corp. is an integrated multimedia content and commerce company that captures people's fascination with space, science and technological innovation.