1/8/2001
Leading Online Obituary Publisher Extends its Market Dominance
HOUSTON, January 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Arrangeonline.com, the world’s largest publisher of online obituaries, announced today it has acquired WebObits.com, one of the pioneers in the fast-growing obituary publishing market.
WebObits.com was among the first Web sites to extend the tradition of publishing obituaries and death notices in newspapers to publishing them on the Web, where anyone in the world can see them.
The merger, which closed in Houston today, is a dramatic demonstration of an established company’s ability to enter a market dotted with startups and quickly seize the leadership position.
Arrangeonline.com is a subsidiary of Continental Computer Corp. of Jonesboro, Ark., maker of the leading software for managing funerals and funeral homes. In the three months since its launch last October, Arrangeonline.com has:
· Won the exclusive endorsement of the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), the leading membership group in the death-care industry
· Signed an agreement with America Online and AOL’s Digital City local network to provide obituaries to AOL’s 26 million members.
· Announced a data-sharing agreement with Dolan Media Co. to help prevent identity theft and credit card fraud by unscrupulous operators who steal the identities of people when they die.
Nadine Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Arrangeonline.com and President of Final Arrangements, LLC, the Houston-based holding company that executed the deal, said the acquisition gives her company the benefit of WebObits.com’s technology and management talent. “This step strengthens our leadership position in the industry and further enhances our ability to serve families and funeral homes,” Ms. Smith said.
Michael Fullington, President of Continental Computer and of Arrangeonline.com, said: “WebObits.com was one of the first to see the potential of publishing obituaries and personal tributes on the Internet, and we are pleased to have the benefit of the company’s experience and know-how.”
Michael Putzel, an internationally known journalist who founded WebObits.com and has been chairman and president of its parent company, WebMilestones.com, LLC, will become a senior executive at Arrangeonline.com.
“We are delighted to be part of a venture that, by virtue of Continental’s long experience in the industry and the NFDA’s reputation, established its leadership in the field the day it appeared online,” Putzel said. The WebMilestones founder is a former White House and foreign correspondent who has written extensively about technology and the growth of the World Wide Web.
WebObits.com charged fees for publication of obituaries and sold flowers, sympathy cards and appropriate gifts to site visitors.
Arrangeonline.com has a similar business model but has the substantial strength of Continental’s customer base of 5,000 funeral homes across the country using its software, a national sales force and 15 years of profitability.
With a simple upgrade now being installed free for users of Continental’s premier software product, The Director’s Assistant for Windows, funeral directors can send obituaries to Arrangeonline.com with a single mouse click. Arrangeonline.com already has nearly 10 million historical death records online, and it expects to add millions more as more funeral homes upload the files from their local hard drives.
Web sites: www.arrangeonline.com and www.continentalcomputers.com
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