TAKKLE bought by Alloy Media (NASDAQ:ALOY)

Some GREAT acquisition news on my previous start-up Takkle.com:

Alloy Media and Marketing, the NYC-based public (NASDAQ:ALOY) online youth-focused company, has acquired Takkle.com, a high school sports recruitment website also based in NYC. Takkle will become part of the Teen.com Network, Alloy's content and ad network, the companies said, though the site will remain separate for now. Teen.com's network includes its flagship Alloy.com, Gurl.com (which Alloy bought from iVillage, Teen.com, and Channelone.com. No financial details were released, but Alloy has bought More to come?

Takkle, founded in 2006, had raised about $12 million in two rounds, and was backed by Time Inc's Sports Illustrated, the New York City Investment Fund, WMG Investments, the investment arm of Wasserman Media Group, Greycroft Partners (our previous investors), IJ Smith Enterprises, and Jack Schneider, Managing Director at Allen & Co.



PRESS RELEASE:

#1 Teen Web Community Expands Audience Reach With Addition of Leading Online Resource and Recruitment Website for High School Athletes and Coaches

NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alloy Media + Marketing (ALOY), a leading provider of youth-focused innovative media, today announced it has acquired TAKKLE.com (www.takkle.com), a prominent online resource and college recruitment website for high school sports. Effective immediately, TAKKLE.com joins the TEEN.com Network, Alloy's youth focused distributed media content and advertising network that ranks as the #1 community for teens, according to comScore's MediaMetrix audience report(1).

"Alloy's TEEN.com Network delivers extensive reach into the youth audience, with the advantage of targeting by gender and by top consumer category channels," commented Matt Diamond, Co-founder and CEO of Alloy Media + Marketing.

"The acquisition of TAKKLE, together with our recent purchase of teen girl community, gURL.com, demonstrates Alloy's ongoing commitment to developing youth-focused digital media assets that offer teens superior content, while also providing marketers with a high quality and highly populated environment to engage this consumer segment. gURL.com solidifies our network's unparalleled concentration of influential teen girls and with TAKKLE, we also secure a dynamic share of the millennial male market."

TAKKLE, the largest online resource focused on high school athletics, provides a platform and tools for high school athletes to create player and team profiles, share videos and photos, track and view statistics, and allows students to connect with team coaches and college sports recruiters for advancement opportunities. The site has drawn a monthly audience of close to one million athletes(2), both male and female, and has attracted an impressive array of advertisers, including Procter & Gamble's Tampax brand, Gatorade, and Spalding.

TAKKLE Founder David Birnbaum commented, "We are thrilled to join Alloy, a company that has clearly distinguished itself as a leader in the youth market. We look forward to leveraging the many opportunities that being a part of the Alloy family offers, and to continuing to develop TAKKLE with their management team."

Mr. Diamond added, "TAKKLE has built an impressive community that not only embodies the spirit and passion of young athletes, but offers them important and unique utilities to showcase their talents and leverage opportunities to further their careers. It is a superb complement to other properties in the TEEN.com Network."

In connection with the acquisition, Alloy assumed substantially all assets involved with the operation of TAKKLE.com.

Alloy Media + Marketing's TEEN.com Network now reaches a total audience of over 20 million(3). The network includes popular youth- targeted web properties; www.alloy.com, www.gurl.com, www.teen.com, www.channelone.com and www.takkle.com, among other well known youth focused brands that offer appealing content and social utilities, along with dedicated fashion, health and beauty, sports and entertainment channels. Current TEEN.com Network clients span a wide range of product categories, and include advertisers such as Sears Holdings, Paramount Pictures, Pentel and LG Mobile.

About Alloy

Alloy Media + Marketing (AM+M) (ALOY) is one of the country's largest providers of media and marketing programs reaching targeted consumer segments. Alloy manages a diverse array of assets and services in interactive, display, direct mail, content production and educational programming. Alloy works with over 1,500 companies including half of the Fortune 200. For further information regarding Alloy, please visit our corporate website at www.alloymarketing.com.