Bidz.com (NASDAQ: BIDZ), a leading online auctioneer of jewelry,
announced today that it was the winning bidder of a large lot of
finished jewelry in the bankruptcy auction of LID Ltd., one of the world’s
largest manufacturers of diamond jewelry. Bidz paid nearly $24 million,
significantly below cost, to acquire the lot of high quality diamond and
gemstone jewelry. The company expects to sell the newly acquired
inventory primarily through online auctions as well as B2B (wholesale)
transactions.
The company is in the process of receiving, photographing, and
describing the inventory and expects to begin to auction the jewelry on
its website by early June. With the company’s
fiscal quarter ending on June 30, 2008, the majority of the acquired
inventory is expected to remain on the company’s
balance sheet at the end of the second quarter of 2008, and some will
likely be held for the important holiday season.
“We are extremely pleased to have outbid some
very strong and better known competitors while still receiving a great
deal on this very high quality assortment of merchandise,”
said David Zinberg, Chief Executive Officer of Bidz.com. “It
is our size, reputation, increasing brand awareness, solid balance sheet
and entrepreneurial spirit that enable us to take advantage of
fortuitous opportunities such as this. We expect to be invited to
participate in other similar opportunities in the future.”
About Bidz.com
Bidz.com, founded in 1998, is an online auctioneer of jewelry. Bidz
offers its products through a live auction format. To learn more about
Bidz.com visit its website at www.bidz.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release includes statements made by Bidz that are
forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including forward-looking
statements about the Company’s estimated
revenue, gross margins, earnings and tax rates. All statements other
than statements of historical facts contained in this press release,
including statements regarding the Company’s
future financial position, business strategy and plans and objectives of
management for future operations, are forward looking statements. The
words “believe,” “may,”
“will,” “estimate,”
“continue,” “anticipate,”
“intend,” “expect,”
and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, are intended to
identify forward looking statements. Bidz based these forward-looking
statements largely on current expectations and projections about future
events and financial trends that Bidz believes may affect its financial
condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs.
Risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include the ability
of the Company to attract customers to its website and offer attractive
products; to maintain its website, electronic data processing systems,
and systems hardware; to forecast accurately net revenue and plan for
expenses; to protect intellectual property rights; and potential
litigation and government enforcement actions that may result from our
prior securities offerings. All forward-looking statements are qualified
in their entirety by reference to the factors described in Part I, Item
1A, “Risk Factors”
in Bidz’ 2007 Annual Report on Form 10-K, and
in Part II, Item 1A, “Risk Factors”
in Bidz’ Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for
the quarter ended March 31, 2008 that could cause the actual results of
Bidz to differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking
statements.
All subsequent forward-looking statements, whether written or oral
and whether made by or on behalf of Bidz, also are expressly qualified
by these cautionary statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks
only as of the date on which such statement is made, and Bidz undertakes
no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events
or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made or to
reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New factors emerge from
time to time and it is not possible for Bidz to predict all such
factors, nor can it assess the impact of each such factor or the extent
to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to
differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement.
