Aufeminin : to Acquire Livingly Media, Inc

Press release
Paris, 18th February 2015

aufeminin to Acquire Livingly Media, Inc

A leading publisher of lifestyle content in the United States

aufeminin (ISIN: FR0004042083, Ticker: FEM) today announced that it has agreed to acquire US firm Livingly Media, Inc.

Livingly, based in San Carlos, California (at the heart of Silicon Valley), is one of the top
25 digital publishers of lifestyle content in the United States and publishes popular women's titles Zimbio.com (entertainment news), StyleBistro.com (fashion, beauty, and style), and Lonny.com (home décor and design).
aufeminin is acquiring the company for an initial purchase price of $25 million, and an EBITDA-driven earn-out, lasting until 2019, that could increase total consideration to approximately $50 million.
The acquisition will be financed using the group's cash flow.
Livingly's financial statements will be consolidated as of March 1st, 2015.

Tony Mamone, CEO of Livingly Media, said: "We're thrilled to join the aufeminin group, whose deep digital media expertise and support will accelerate our strategy, which is focused on captivating audiences on mobile, desktop, and social platforms with unique content experiences, and selling native sponsorships and programmatic advertising."

An American success story

Livingly Media was started in 2006 by Stanford business school graduates Tony Mamone and Danny Khatib, respectively former Senior VP of Sales at NASDAQ-listed LookSmart and Digital Media Manager at AOL Time Warner. It has rapidly acquired leadership positions in several categories of the US women's lifestyle market with one of the best records in building audiences from social media.
Employing 65 people, including half in New York City, Livingly Media generated organic growth of 40% in 2014, with revenue of approximately $15 million and an audience of over
28 million unique visitors(*).
A focus on innovation and technology development sustains the company's rapid growth. Its proprietary publishing platform helps the team create a large volume of highly shareable content on all social media networks.
The virality and quality of its content has fueled a steady increase in audience, with high time spent and a user engagement rate three times greater than its competitors.
Livingly will continue to operate under the leadership of Tony Mamone and Danny Khatib.

A strategic acquisition to keep pace with a fast-changing market

The acquisition of Livingly Media will position aufeminin as a major player in the United States, after the launch in 2013 of wewomen, a platform dedicated to fashion, beauty, psychology and fitness.
aufeminin is embracing the social trend by acquiring one of the most successful publishers on social media in the United States. Livingly's content received more than 15 million Facebook referrals per month in 2014 and its three titles currently have 2.6 million social followers. Together, aufeminin group and Livingly Media will reach over 7 million followers on social networks worldwide (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Youtube, Instagram, and Pinterest).
Marie-Laure Sauty de Chalon, CEO of the aufeminin group commented : "This acquisition is a new step in our international strategy. Tony, Danny and their team have developed a unique expertise in building and monetizing audience form social platforms, half of it coming from mobile. Their expertise offers real advantages, as in 2014 for the first time, our mobile audience outstripped the desktop audience. We are thrilled to welcome them in our family."

Strong levers for growth

Thanks to synergies, Livingly Media and aufeminin will expand their expertise in:
- developing social audience
- customizing mobile solutions for clients
- creating brand publishing for advertisers
- improving user engagement
- scaling programmatic advertising

Creation of a new group

A year after the integration of My Little Paris, aufeminin group is pursuing its strategy in acquiring expertise in innovative and new territories.
The group in 2015 will represent an aggregated multi-device audience of 148 million visitors per month(*).

* Google analytics January 2015

Next publication: 11 March 2015, 2014 annual results

About aufeminin

aufeminin is a top-tier digital content provider which posted revenues of €87 million in 2014. A limited company which is

80.8% owned by the Axel Springer Group, it is listed in compartment B of Euronext Paris (ISIN: FR0004042083, Ticker: FEM). The

Group's activities are divided into two core sectors: aufeminin Publishing and Smart AdServer.

As the world's No. I provider of editorial and community-based content for women, aufeminin Publishing is present on all platforms and devices (websites, mobile phones, tablets, TV and print) in 14 countries: France, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, Canada, Morocco, Tunisia, USA and Brazil. As the world's leading publisher of websites for women, it has 33 million individual site visitors per month worldwide1 and an ever-increasing number of unique visitors by mobile phone which already stands at 36 million2. The aufemininGroup also owns MyLittleParis,

which publishes newsletters for a one-million strong online community of women readers and each month sends out a box of surprise and beauty products to more than 80,000 subscribers to its MyLittleBox postal offering.

Aufeminin Publishing has an editorial and community-based offer covering the most popular topics amongst women: Fashion, Baby, Beauty, Shopping, Cooking, News, Society, etc.

Smart AdServer is an integrated ad serving premium and RTB platform which allows publishers to monetise all digital channels: web, mobile and video. Smart AdServer currently has 400 clients across four continents and accounted for €14 million of Group revenue in 2014.

Contacts

aufeminin	Actifin
[e-mail]	Christophe de Lylle, [e-mail]
Delphine Groll, [e-mail]	Press relations : Jennifer Jullia, [e-mail]
Tel : [phone]

1 Source: Comscore, December 2014

2 Source: Google Analytics, December 2014