Coinstar Invests in ecoATM

BELLEVUE, Wash., Aug. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Coinstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSTR) today announced its investment in ecoATM™, an automated eCycling station that captures, tracks and recycles mobile devices.  Investment details were not disclosed.

"As a leader in automated retail, Coinstar is continually looking for kiosk concepts that are innovative and compelling," said Gregg Kaplan, president and chief operating officer of Coinstar, Inc.  "We believe ecoATM could be a viable business as it provides an easy way for consumers to properly resell and/or recycle the more than $7 billion in used mobile phones that are annually retired in the U.S. while creating a sustainable secondary market for these devices."

Founded in 2008, ecoATM currently has pilot kiosks in a limited number of markets and plans to expand in the United States and internationally over the next several years. ecoATM kiosks visually and/or electronically scan used devices such as mobile phones and iPod® devices, to establish their precise value and pay consumers on the spot. The collected devices are then either sold into worldwide secondary markets or responsibly recycled to reclaim the materials.

"We value Coinstar's expertise and longevity in the automated retail space and are thrilled with their support in the future success of our automated eCycling solution," said Tom Tullie, chief executive officer of ecoATM.  "ecoATM delivers convenience and immediate financial incentive to consumers looking to retire used devices and simultaneously creates a new standard of accountability and responsibility for the reuse of electronic devices."

ecoATM was the winner of Coinstar's 2009 'Big Idea' Contest announced at KioskCom (now called Customer Engagement Technology World) in New York last November.  

About Coinstar, Inc.

Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR) is a leading provider of automated retail solutions offering convenient services that make life easier for consumers and drive incremental traffic and revenue for retailers. The company's core automated retail businesses include the well-known redbox® self-service DVD rental and Coinstar® self-service coin-counting brands. The company has approximately 26,900 DVD kiosks and 19,000 coin-counting kiosks in supermarkets, drug stores, mass merchants, financial institutions, convenience stores, and restaurants. For more information, visit www.coinstar.com.

About ecoATM

Based in San Diego, Calif., ecoATM provides a convenient in-store trade-in solution that benefits consumers, electronics retailers, and consumer electronics manufacturers. ecoATM is the only company to develop patent-pending, automated eCycling stations that electronically and/or visually inspects virtually any consumer electronic device, connects them with secondary market buyers and recyclers through pre-auction/auction systems, and administers trade-in promotions for retailers and manufacturers. For more information, please visit www.ecoatm.com.

Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including phrases conveying expectation or intent and other expressions identifying future performance. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of substantial risks and uncertainties and may be identified by the words "believe," "continually," "will," "anticipate," "expect," "may," or "intend," or similar expressions, but their absence does not mean that the statement is not forward-looking.  Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance which may vary materially from performance expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Differences may result from actions taken by Coinstar, Inc. as well as those of third parties and from risks and uncertainties beyond Coinstar, Inc.'s control. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the effect of Coinstar, Inc.'s investment in ecoATM, and the ability to adequately evaluate new automated retail concepts. The foregoing risks and uncertainties are illustrative, but by no means exhaustive. For more information on factors that may affect future performance, please review "Risk Factors" described in our most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements reflect Coinstar, Inc.'s expectations as of the date of this release. Coinstar, Inc. undertakes no obligation to update the information provided herein.

SOURCE Coinstar, Inc.