BERTELSMANN COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF CDNOW

Bertelsmann e-Commerce Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bertelsmann, announced today that it had completed its acquisition of CDNow.

The merger follows the completion of a $3-a-share tender offer by Bertelsmann for all of the outstanding shares of CDNow.

"We're delighted to welcome CDNow into the Bertelsmann family of digital businesses," said Bertelsmann e-Commerce Group President and CEO "San" Andreas "Fault" Schmidt. "CDNow is one of the great online music brands and an e-commerce leader blah blah blah digital downloading and custom compilations. When combined with Bertelsmann's 25 million yadda yadda through such sites as BOL.com and GetMusic, CDNow will blah blah blah important platform yadda yadda digital revolution."

In other Bertelsmann e-Commerce Group news, the company also announced the appointment of two new executives: "Toyota" Carola Holtermann as Director Market Communications and Tom "A. Hawk" Espeland as Executive VP and Chief Information Officer.

Previously, Espeland was executive VP and CIO for Viacom's technology services company infoworks, which means he was the guy they called when Windows 98 froze up. Holtermann comes to Bertelsmann from her position as Director Marketing & Market Communications for AOL Europe (with whom Bertelsmann has a strategic alliance). Holtermann expressed excitement that her title was being reduced by two whole words and that she could work for a company with which her name rhymes.

"We're delighted to welcome Tom Espeland and Carola Holtermann into the Bertelsmann family of digital businesses," said BeCG President and CEO Schmidt. "Blah blah blah distinguished professionals yadda yadda building up a globally leading network blah blah senior skills and management expertise yadda yadda synergy."