Europ@Web acquires stake in WineandCo (www.wineandco.com).

M2 PRESSWIRE-22 February 2000-Europ@Web: Europ@Web acquires stake in WineandCo (www.wineandco.com) (C)1994-2000 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

RDATE:22022000

Europ@Web, the Internet arm of Bernard Arnault's family holding company, has acquired a strategic minority stake in WineandCo (www.wineandco.com).

Originally created in France, WineandCo is a website devoted to wine, offering amateurs a wide choice of wines from all over the world at competitive prices. The investment is by way of a capital increase of approximately 100 million French francs and will enable WineandCo, which already has operational sites in France, Italy and England, to accelerate its international development.

WineandCo offers a wide selection of wines from France and overseas, and helps users to make their own selections based on expert advice, opinions from other consumers and general information on the world of wine. The company has built a dedicated logistical structure that guarantees optimum delivery times and, in the majority of cases, orders processed before midday are delivered the following day.

Marc Perrin, president and founder of WineandCo, commented: "We are extremely enthusiastic about the idea of working with Europ@Web which, in our opinion, has understood the concept of WineandCo perfectly. The numerous operational synergies that can be quickly be established will allow us to accelerate our global development as well as giving us access to numerous partnerships."

Chahram Becharat, Managing Director of Europ@Web, commented: "We have been convinced by the quality of WineandCo's management team, who possess a strong knowledge of the wine industry, which is crucial, combined with more than five years experience of operating on the Internet."

WineandCo WineandCo was founded in 1999 by Marc Perrin, Rodolphe Boivin and Loic Lemeur, with the support of GIP, a venture capital fund specializing in e-commerce. Before devoting themselves exclusively to WineandCo, Marc Perrin and Rodolphe Boivin created Vinternet, a company which set up more than 600 websites for the wine industry, and which continues to work alongside WineandCo.

WineandCo offers its customers the opportunity to discover wines from France and the rest of the world, chosen for their excellent quality and/or their reasonable prices. Customers can take advantage of the wealth of information available on the world of wines, the opportunity to chat online to other amateurs throughout the world, and numerous references from well-known guides, enabling them to make their selections according to their specific tastes, receiving guidance on their choices as they do so.

WineandCo is currently present in France, Italy and the UK, employing 35 personnel, and aims to develop rapidly in other European, North American and Asian countries.

Europ@Web Europ@web is the Internet arm of Bernard Arnault's family holding company.

With 500 million euros at its disposal, Europ@web's mission is to create or develop Internet-related companies with a strong growth potential and a long term operational perspective, through majority or minority stakes. Entities in which Europ@web has invested recently include Webvan, PlanetRx, Camdens and Oxygen Media in the US. Under the direction of Chahram Becharat, the European team of Europ@web contributed to the creation of Liberty Surf, the free Internet access provider which recently acquired a stake in X-Stream, and took a majority stake in Aucland, one of the leading online auction sites in Europe. Europ@Web also recently invested in Leisureplanet, Sportal, Imediation and Netvalue.

GIP GIP (www.gip-partners.com) has a global portfolio of almost 150 million euros, specialising in electronic commerce and distribution, including Mondera.com (jewellery), Pets-Pyjamas.co.uk (articles for pets), Skim.com (fashion), and LibertyTV.com (travel). GIP is active in Europe, Latin America and South East Asia; its objective is to help entrepreneurs with strong potential to develop on a global scale.

CONTACT: Emma Holyer/Rebecca Whitehead, MIDNIGHT COMMUNICATIONS Tel: +44 (0)1273 666200 Fax: +44 (0)1273 666201 e-mail: emma@midnight.co.uk

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