Bankrate, Inc. Completes Acquisition of Insurance Lead Generation and Marketing Assets of InsWeb Corporation

NEW YORK, Dec. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Bankrate, Inc. (NYSE: RATE) announced today that it has successfully completed the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of InsWeb Corporation (NASDAQ: INSW) relating to InsWeb's insurance lead generation and marketing business.

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Bankrate and InsWeb had previously announced that they had, on October 10, 2011, entered into a definitive agreement for this acquisition.  The agreement specified the assets to be purchased, in exchange for the assumption of certain liabilities and the payment of $65 million in cash, subject to adjustments.

InsWeb is retaining a portfolio of e-commerce and online insurance distribution patents, which it will license to Bankrate on a perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive basis.  InsWeb is expected to continue as a public company and will focus on a new business model in which it will license its patented technologies.

Bankrate was advised in this transaction as to financial matters by Stifel Nicolaus Weisel, and as to legal matters by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.  InsWeb was advised as to financial matters by GCA Savvian, and as to legal matters by Sidley Austin LLP.

About Bankrate, Inc.

Bankrate is a leading publisher, aggregator and distributor of personal finance content on the Internet.  Bankrate provides consumers with proprietary, fully researched, comprehensive, independent and objective personal finance editorial content across multiple vertical categories including mortgages, deposits, insurance, credit cards, and other categories, such as retirement, automobile loans, and taxes. The Bankrate network includes Bankrate.com, our flagship website, and other owned and operated personal finance websites, including CreditCards.com, Interest.com, Bankaholic.com, Mortgage-calc.com, CreditCardGuide.com, Nationwide Card Services, InsuranceQuotes.com, CarInsuranceQuotes.com, InsureMe, Bankrate.com.cn, CreditCards.ca, NetQuote, and CD.com.  Bankrate aggregates rate information from over 4,800 institutions on more than 300 financial products. With coverage of nearly 600 local markets in all 50 U.S. states, Bankrate generates over 172,000 distinct rate tables capturing on average over three million pieces of information daily.  Bankrate develops and provides web services to over 75 co-branded websites with online partners, including some of the most trusted and frequently visited personal finance sites on the Internet such as Yahoo!, AOL, CNBC and Bloomberg. In addition, Bankrate licenses editorial content to over 100 newspapers on a daily basis including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe.

www.bankrate.com

About InsWeb Corporation

Prior to this acquisition, InsWeb Corporation owned and operated a network of leading insurance marketplace and education websites. Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Sacramento, California, InsWeb's primary properties included InsWeb.com, InsuranceRates.com, LocalInsuranceAgents.com, MedHealthInsurance.com and AgentInsider.com. InsWeb has invented multiple e-commerce and online insurance distribution technologies and owns the following patents: 6,898,597; 7,107,325; 7,389,246; 7,640,176 and 7,707,505.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements, which include statements expressing the intent, belief or current expectations of InsWeb and Bankrate that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based on various factors, many of which are beyond our control.  The words "may," "could," "should," "would," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "target," "goal," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Actual results might differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties associated with the transaction and InsWeb's and Bankrate's businesses, which include, but are not limited to: macroeconomic condition and general industry conditions such as the competitive environment; regulatory and litigation matters and risks; risks related to whether stockholders will approve the transaction; the possibility that competing offers for the assets will be made; the risk that a condition to closing of the transaction may not be satisfied; other risks to consummation of the transaction, including the risk that the transaction will not be consummated within the expected time period; the effects of disruption from the transaction making it more difficult to maintain relationships with employees, customers, suppliers and other business partners; risks related to the successful integration of the business contemplated to be acquired; risks related to InsWeb's ability to operate its retained business, including realizing the value of its retained assets and satisfying its retained liabilities and obligations; and the factors discussed in InsWeb's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010 and Bankrate's registration statements on Form S-1, in each case filed with United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC").  Unless legally required, InsWeb and Bankrate undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For more information contact:

Bruce J. Zanca
SVP, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
Bankrate, Inc.
(917) 368-8648
[email protected]

or

Jennifer Jarman
The Blueshirt Group, for InsWeb
(415) 217-5866
[email protected]

SOURCE Bankrate, Inc.