LONDON, Jan. 17, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- QXL ricardo plc ("QXL") (LSE:QXL.L) (Nasdaq:QXLCD) (Frankfurt:QXL.F), today announces that it has signed a strategic marketing partnership with MSN, Europe's number one web destination. This agreement is effective in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the U.K.
The agreement gives QXL strong presence across several properties, including where available, the MSN Auction Channel and the Shopping home page. QXL will also offer its auction services to MSN and Microsoft to provide special auctions of Microsoft products or unique items. As a result of endorsement by QXL of the .Net alert service, QXL will have a presence on MSN Messenger in Germany, France and the U.K. and in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden once the MSN Messenger program is localized in those countries.
Neil Mason, Chief Marketing Officer of QXL ricardo, said: "This is a significant partnership for QXL, providing us with an excellent opportunity to reach the greatest number of people across Europe through MSN's extensive network. In addition, it also provides us with a cost-effective method to offer and introduce the excitement of online auctions."
Mark Garland, Business Development Director for MSN EMEA added: "Our partnership with QXL follows MSN's recent announcement of a $30 million investment in a digital marketing program -- MSN Advantage Marketing. We're really excited to be working with QXL as the company has a solid European foothold and is investing in numerous innovative technologies, particularly around .Net, to offer a better service to our users."
The full-text article with additional information can be found at the following link: http://reports.huginonline.com/845445/98390.doc