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Jupiterimages Acquires Animation Factory

Jupitermedia Corp. announced that its Jupiterimages division has acquired the assets of Animation Factory Inc., which includes the MediaBuilder Network of websites, (www.animationfactory.com) and (www.mediabuilder.com), from VA Software Corp. for $9.35 million in cash and the assumption of certain liabilities.

Animation Factory, based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, offers paid online subscriptions for royalty-free 3D clip art, animated graphics, video backgrounds, Microsoft PowerPoint templates and e-mail, and Web page backgrounds for business and personal use. Creative professionals and prosumers access Animation Factory's collection of more than 400,000 original animations and Web designs to incorporate graphics into e-mail, Internet messaging, Web pages, presentations and mobile phones. Animation Factory's MediaBuilder Network of websites, which generates more than 18 million page views per month, also offers free online graphics tools, which help to drive users to buy Animation Factory's paid products.

"Animation Factory's leadership position in providing 3D animations, clipart, video clips and PowerPoint presentations further expands Jupiterimages' range of image offerings and solidifies Jupiterimages' position as the dominating company providing images by paid online subscription," stated Alan M. Meckler, chairman/ceo of Jupitermedia Corp. "We anticipate significant sales and business synergies between Animation Factory and our Jupiterimages division as well as our other Jupitermedia properties. We also expect that this acquisition will immediately be accretive to our earnings and cash flows," added Meckler.

"We have been proud to work with Animation Factory over the last five years, but believe that the business better fits the Jupiterimages portfolio of products and services. With the disposition of our Animation Factory business, we are increasing our focus on our core media and software businesses," said Ali Jenab, president/ceo of VA Software Corp. "We are excited about the growth opportunities for our media business where traffic has increased to over 31 million unique visitors monthly. We are encouraged by the level of sales activity associated with our software business. And, finally, we are seeing record levels of sales in our E-commerce business. We believe that VA Software remains poised for both business and financial success."

Jupitermedia Corp. (www.jupitermedia.com), headquartered in Darien, Connecticut, is a leading global provider of original information, images and research for information technology, business and creative professionals. Jupitermedia includes Jupiterimages, one of the leading images companies in the world with more than seven million images online.

VA Software Corp. provides the IT and developer communities with information, community support and software. VA Software is the parent company of OSTG Inc. (Open Source Technology Group), and the creator of SourceForge. SourceForge Enterprise Edition optimizes distributed development for Fortune 500 companies.

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