High-Growth CEO Forum™ John Rizzi Creates Win/Win with Strategic Sale of e-Dialog to GSI Commerce

e-Dialog President and CEO John Rizzi, a long-time member of a Catlin & Cookman Group High-Growth CEO Forum™, has led his company through a strategic acquisition by GSI Commerce Inc. (Nasdaq: GSIC), a leading e-commerce and multichannel solutions provider based in King of Prussia, PA. GSI has agreed to pay $147.8 million in cash and $9.2 million in restricted shares of its own stock for the privately held company, which is based in Lexington, MA. The acquisition price represents a multiple of 24X of trailing EBITDA.

e-Dialog is a market-leading provider of advanced e-mail marketing services and solutions to more than 100 blue-chip companies in the U.S. and Europe. The company will now operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of GSI, remaining operationally intact and retaining such assets as its brand name, offices, and employees.

“John is a great example of the new breed of leader our Forums attract,” said Katherine Catlin, leader of the High-Growth CEO Forum Rizzi has participated in since 2000. “He understands at a deep level how to lead his company through the fundamental changes required for continuous innovation and profitable growth. His style is open, decisive, and action-oriented. I have no doubt we’ll see even greater success for him and for e-Dialog as a result of this strategic deal with GSI.

“John has been a real asset to our Forum,” added Catlin. “Not only has he implemented many ideas from our group, he has helped define some very creative and new best practices that have benefited other members. He also has offered a wide variety of thoughtful insights and valuable experiences to help other CEOs with their growth challenges.”

“After nearly 10 years of building e-Dialog to be a leading, service-oriented e-mail marketing solutions provider in the U.S. and Europe, it is the right time to move the company to its next stage by joining GSI Commerce,” commented Rizzi. “As an independent operating unit of GSI we will continue our focus on being a leading e-mail marketing solutions provider and driving our clients to achieve exceptional performance in this channel. Our clients will also benefit from GSI’s experience in other marketing services such as search, affiliate marketing, and Web site creative services.”

“e-Dialog is a high-performing company with a promising growth trajectory and is a perfect strategic, geographic and financial fit for GSI,” said Michael G. Rubin, chairman and CEO of GSI Commerce®. “We see the market demanding more sophisticated marketing services every day and have made it an imperative at GSI to provide our partners with robust and advanced services like e-Dialog’s.