Microsoft Acquires Equity Stake in CareerBuilder

- MSN and CareerBuilder Extend U.S. Alliance Seven Years and Expand

Relationship to Include Key MSN International Sites -



REDMOND, Wash., MCLEAN, Va., SACRAMENTO, Calif., CHICAGO, May 9

/PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft Corp. ( MSFT), Gannett Co., Inc (
 GCI), Tribune Company ( TRB), and The McClatchy Company ( MNI)
 announced that Microsoft has purchased a minority equity stake in
 CareerBuilder.com, the U.S.'s largest online job site. In a separate
 agreement, MSN(R) and CareerBuilder have extended their strategic alliance,
 making CareerBuilder the exclusive content provider to the MSN Careers
 channel in the U.S. through 2013. MSN and CareerBuilder have also broadened
 their alliance to include key MSN international sites, facilitating an
 accelerated expansion overseas for CareerBuilder.
     CareerBuilder has experienced an unprecedented level of success in the
 online recruitment space, rising from the No. 3 position in revenue in the
 U.S. to No. 1 in just five years. The job site averages more than 1.5
 million job postings per month.
     "Our strategic business relationship with MSN played a major part in
 CareerBuilder taking over as the industry leader in 2006, helping to drive
 critical levels of job search traffic," said Matt Ferguson, CEO of
 CareerBuilder. "Microsoft's equity stake builds on this successful
 relationship and establishes a global alliance with one of the world's most
 ubiquitous technology powerhouses. It enables CareerBuilder to continue to
 grow faster in the U.S. than any other job site while leveraging a strong
 international platform to quickly enter new markets in Europe and all over
 the world."
     "MSN has had a strong relationship with CareerBuilder for over three
 years and helped it rise to top of the industry," said Joanne Bradford,
 corporate vice president and chief media officer for MSN at Microsoft.
 "Taking an equity stake in the most prominent job site in the U.S. presents
 a unique opportunity to enhance our business relationship. In addition, the
 agreement to share our global footprint with CareerBuilder unites our
 worldwide technology and information channels and gives users access to
 unmatched job search and job distribution resources."
     MSN AND CAREERBUILDER - U.S. TRAFFIC
     The relationship between Microsoft and CareerBuilder began in January
 2004 when CareerBuilder became the exclusive job search engine for the MSN
 Careers channel in the U.S. CareerBuilder's monthly traffic grew by nearly
 10 million unique visitors from 2003 to 2004 with MSN contributing a
 significant portion of the increased traffic. CareerBuilder continues to
 grow its traffic, which now averages more than 21 million unique visitors
 per month as part of the enhanced relationship.
     Similar to the previous arrangement, the new agreement is also
 performance-based with financial payments driven by the quality and
 quantity of traffic delivered. The new agreement provides for an extension
 to 2013, whereby CareerBuilder will pay MSN up to $443 million over the
 course of seven years to serve as the exclusive job search engine on the
 MSN Careers channel.
     INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION
     The business alliance between CareerBuilder and MSN is also expanding
 on a global scale.
     Under a new international traffic agreement, MSN has committed to
 integrating CareerBuilder services across key MSN sites, primarily in
 Europe. The agreement, in effect until 2013, is also performance-based and
 will make CareerBuilder the exclusive job search engine on key
 international sites.
     CareerBuilder began building a more aggressive presence in
 international markets in 2006 by launching sites in the UK, Canada and
 India. Last month, CareerBuilder announced it has acquired Jobbguiden in
 Sweden and JobbingMall in The Netherlands.
     MSN plans to launch CareerBuilder on MSN sites in most European
 countries by the middle of 2008 with several rolling out by the end of
 2007.
     About Microsoft
     Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in
 software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize
 their full potential.
     About MSN and Windows Live
     MSN attracts more than 465 million unique users worldwide per month.
 With localized versions available globally in 42 markets and 21 languages,
 MSN is a world leader in delivering compelling programmed content
 experiences to consumers and online advertising opportunities to businesses
 worldwide. Windows Live, a set of personal Internet services and software,
 is designed to bring together in one place all the relationships,
 information and interests people care about most, with enhanced safety and
 security features across their PC, devices and the Web. MSN and Windows
 Live will be offered alongside each other as complementary services. Some
 Windows Live services entered an early beta phase on Nov. 1, 2005; these
 and future beta updates can be found at http://ideas.live.com. Windows Live
 is available at http://www.live.com. MSN is located on the Web at
 http://www.msn.com.
     Media Contacts for Microsoft:
     Erika Bitzer
     Senior Account Executive
     Waggener Edstrom Worldwide
     (503) 443-7000
     erikab@waggeneredstrom.com
 
     Rapid Response Team
     Waggener Edstrom Worldwide
     (503) 443-7070
     rrt@waggeneredstrom.com
     About Gannett
     Gannett Co., Inc. is a leading international news and information
 company that publishes 90 daily newspapers in the USA, including USA TODAY,
 the nation's largest-selling daily newspaper. The company also owns nearly
 1,000 non-daily publications in the USA and USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper
 magazine. Gannett subsidiary Newsquest is the United Kingdom's second
 largest regional newspaper company. Newsquest publishes nearly 300 titles,
 including 18 daily newspapers, and a network of prize-winning Web sites.
 Gannett also operates 23 television stations in the United States and is an
 Internet leader with sites sponsored by its TV stations and newspapers
 including USATODAY.com, one of the most popular news sites on the Web.
     Media Contact for Gannett:
     Tara Connell
     VP/Corporate Communications
     703/854-6049
 
     Investor Contact:
     Jeff Heinz
     Director/Investor Relations
     703/854-6917
     About Tribune
     TRIBUNE ( TRB) is one of the country's top media companies,
 operating businesses in publishing, interactive and broadcasting. It
 reaches more than 80 percent of U.S. households and is the only media
 organization with newspapers, television stations and websites in the
 nation's top three markets. In publishing, Tribune's leading daily
 newspapers include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Newsday (Long
 Island, N.Y.), The Sun (Baltimore), South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Orlando
 Sentinel and Hartford Courant. The company's broadcasting group operates 23
 television stations, Superstation WGN on national cable, Chicago's WGN-AM
 and the Chicago Cubs baseball team. Popular news and information websites
 complement Tribune's print and broadcast properties and extend the
 company's nationwide audience.
     Media Contact for Tribune:
     Gary Weitman
     VP/Corporate Communication
     312/222-3394 (office phone)
     gweitman@tribune.com
 
     Investor Contact:
     Ruthellyn Musil
     SVP/Corporate Relations
     312/222-3787 (office phone)
     rmusil@tribune.com
     About McClatchy
     The McClatchy Company ( MNI) is the third-largest newspaper
 company in the United States, with 31 daily newspapers and approximately 50
 non-dailies. McClatchy-owned newspapers include the Miami Herald, The
 Sacramento Bee, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Kansas City Star, the
 Charlotte Observer, and The (Raleigh) News & Observer. In addition,
 McClatchy has a robust network of valuable internet assets, including
 leading local websites in each of its daily newspaper markets, offering
 readers information, comprehensive news, advertising, e-commerce and other
 services. The company also owns and operates McClatchy Interactive, an
 interactive operation that provides websites with content, publishing tools
 and software development; Real Cities (http://www.RealCities.com), the
 largest national advertising network of local news web sites, and is part
 owner of CareerBuilder, the nation's largest online classified employment
 listing service. McClatchy also owns 25.6 percent of Classified Ventures, a
 newspaper industry partnership that includes such online classified web
 sites as cars.com and apartments.com.
     Investor Contact:
     Elaine Lintecum
     Treasurer
     916-321-1846
     About CareerBuilder.com
     CareerBuilder.com is the nation's largest online job site with more
 than 21 million unique visitors and over 1.5 million jobs. Owned by Gannett
 Co., Inc. ( GCI), Tribune Company ( TRB), The McClatchy Company
 ( MNI), and Microsoft Corp. ( MSFT), the company offers a vast
 online and print network to help job seekers connect with employers.
 CareerBuilder.com powers the career centers for more than 1,000 partners
 that reach national, local, industry and niche audiences. These include
 more than 150 newspapers and leading portals such as America Online and
 MSN. More than 250,000 employers take advantage of CareerBuilder.com's easy
 job postings, 20 million- plus resumes, Diversity Channel and more.
 Millions of job seekers visit the site every month to search for
 opportunities by industry, location, company and job type, sign up for
 automatic email job alerts, and get advice on job hunting and career
 management. For more information about CareerBuilder.com products and
 services, visit http://www.careerbuilder.com.
     Media Contact for CareerBuilder.com:
     Jennifer Sullivan
     Senior Director, Corporate Communications
     773-527-1164
     Jennifer.Sullivan@careerbuilder.com
 
 

SOURCE CareerBuilder.com