The Knot Acquires GreatBoyfriends.com; Lifestage Media & Services Company Expands on its Franchise with Young Women

NEW YORK, NY -- Jan. 18, 2005 -- The Knot Inc. (OTCBB: KNOT, www.theknot.com), one of the world’s leading lifestage media and services companies, reported today it has acquired the assets of GreatBoyfriends LLC (GreatBoyfriends.com and GreatGirlfriends.com).


GreatBoyfriends.com and GreatGirlfriends.com will become the fourth lifestage-oriented service within The Knot Inc.’s growing portfolio of brands, which includes top wedding brand The Knot, newlywed resource TheNest.com, and popular teen site PromSpot.com. Building upon its market share within the $70 billion wedding industry, this latest acquisition further expands the company’s relationship with women, ages 25-35, and marks the arrival of The Knot Inc. into the $450 million online personals domain.

GreatBoyfriends.com and GreatGirlfriends.com are unique referral-based e-dating services that offer singles access to "pre-approved" potential suitors. Founded in 2002 by ELLE magazine advice columnist E.Jean Carroll and her sister Cande Carroll, GreatBoyfriends.com and GreatGirlfriends.com are based on the premise that everyone knows a ’great catch’ (an ex, his best man, her maid of honor, a younger brother or sister, etc.) who is in the market for true love.

Closing the loop between social networking and online dating, the sites work on the principle "if you take a good catch, you put one back" The services enable friends and family of potential suitors to act as third-party endorsers, allowing them to post recommendations and pictures on behalf of desirable singles -- at no charge. In turn, singles who nominate a great find are rewarded with a free month’s subscription to the sites’ witty "boyfriend and girlfriend ratings" and can correspond with its community of famously handsome men and seriously gorgeous women -- every one of whom comes with a woman’s stamp of approval or wingman’s thumbs-up. Singles can continue their give-and-take approach to e-dating or gain access without a referral for a subscription fee of $20 per month.

"The acquisition of the GreatBoyfriends referral-based online personals franchise is a logical expansion of our business" said David Liu, CEO of The Knot. "Our core audience of millions of engaged women on TheKnot.com are eager to marry off their single friends and have been matchmaking for their bridesmaids and groomsmen through our message boards for years. Our intensely viral bridal community is the perfect match for both growing the GreatBoyfriends.com database of eligible single men and driving new women customers to purchase site subscriptions, and likewise for GreatGirlfriends.com. And. . . when they do find their match, our existing media properties will be there to guide them to the altar and beyond"

"It’s brilliant! The Knot is about to monetize Mother Nature’s Meet-and-Mate in a delicious way not even dreamed of by the most inventive marketers. The Knot will generate consumers for their wedding and newlywed sites by helping people fall in love on GreatBoyfriends.com and GreatGirlfriends.com" said cofounder E. Jean Carroll. "It’s genius - and sexy in a way that only e-commerce can be sexy. For who better to give a stamp of approval and vouch for her fave fellow’s ’nice guy’ status or her best gal’s ’bring home to mom’ quotient, than a bride on her way to the altar herself"

Cande Carroll added, "It’s a perfect marriage between our two companies, with couples finding their true love on GreatBoyfriends.com and heading straight for The Knot post-engagement to plan their weddings and their happily ever after"

Cande Carroll will join The Knot management team as Vice President and will continue to manage the GreatBoyfriends.com service. E.Jean Carroll, author of long-running ELLE magazine column "Ask E. Jean" which reaches 4.8 million readers per month, will remain a consultant to the division, making ongoing contributions to the business including editorial content and will continue as media spokeswoman for GreatBoyfriends.com. A recognized relationships expert, E. Jean is the author of four books, was a contributing editor to Esquire, has written for Rolling Stone, Spin, New York, Outside, and was nominated for an Emmy for her writing for Saturday Night Live. She is a guest on national TV shows from Oprah to Today.

ABOUT THE KNOT INC.

The Knot Inc. (OTCBB: KNOT; www.theknot.com) is one of the world’s leading lifestage media and services companies. Its wedding brand, The Knot, provides today’s to-be-weds with comprehensive wedding planning information, interactive tools and resources, and wedding-related shopping. Its award-winning website, TheKnot.com, is the leading online wedding destination and wedding content provider to America Online, MSN, and Comcast. Its newlywed website, TheNest.com, is the first online destination for the just-married audience, providing newly-married couples with targeted relationship advice, living and entertaining ideas, interactive tools for daily life, and a robust community of peers.

The Knot Inc. also offers a diverse collection of wedding planning print publications. The Knot produces a national publication, "THE KNOT Weddings" Magazine, and, through its subsidiary Weddingpages, Inc., publishes "THE KNOT Weddings" regional wedding magazines in 16 U.S. markets and "The Knot Real Weddings" magazines in two additional markets. In addition, the Company publishes a wedding planning book trilogy with Broadway Books and a gift book series with Chronicle Books; and produces a televised documentary series on The Oxygen Network and a VOD service for Comcast Cable. The Knot is based in New York and has several other offices across the country.

This release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of The Knot. These statements are only predictions and reflect the current beliefs and expectations of The Knot. Actual events or results may differ materially from those contained in the projections or forward-looking statements. It is routine for internal projections and expectations to change as the quarter progresses, and therefore it should be clearly understood that the internal projections and beliefs upon which The Knot bases its expectations may change prior to the end of the quarter. Although these expectations may change, The Knot will not necessarily inform you if they do. The Knot’s policy is to provide its expectations not more than once per quarter, and not to update that information until the next quarter. Some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein include, without limitation, (i) The Knot’s unproven business model and limited operating history, (ii) The Knot’s history of losses, (iii) the significant fluctuation to which The Knot’s quarterly revenues and operating results are subject, (iv) the seasonality of the wedding industry and (v) other factors detailed in documents The Knot files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its recent filings on Forms 10-K and 10-Q. Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Contact Information

Amy Shey Jacobs

Media Contact

The Knot Inc.

Contact via E-mail