American Express Invests in OpenTable.com
February 18, 2000
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NEW YORK - February 18, 2000 - American Express announced today that it has made a minority investment in OpenTable.com, a leading provider of online restaurant reservations and customer management software for restaurants. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
OpenTable.com’s service offers diners a new way to book restaurant reservations according to their dining preferences 24 hours a day. Options allow diners to search by cuisine, restaurant name and table availability, and then make reservations in real-time - eliminating the task of calling around in search of an available table. The service also provides restaurants with table and reservation management capabilities through OpenTable.com’s proprietary electronic reservation book (ERB).
OpenTable.com is currently working with restaurants in San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Portland and Vail, Colorado. The company is expanding this year to offer its online reservations to restaurants nationwide.
“We are delighted to make an investment in OpenTable.com,” said Pierric Beckert, Senior Vice President of Interactive Investments at American Express. “OpenTable.com is building an exciting new online service that delivers superior value and convenience for both diners and restaurateurs. We look forward to combining our experience in the restaurant industry with OpenTable.com’s expertise in this area to deliver innovative products and services.”
“We’re proud to help bring this cutting-edge technology to the restaurant industry and believe that online reservations are an effective way to promote dining out,” added Lloyd M. Wirshba, Vice President and General Manager of Restaurant and Entertainment Industries at American Express. “By utilizing the Internet, restaurateurs can now reach a global audience of potential customers.”
“As a leader in travel and entertainment services, American Express is an exciting investor for us to work with,” said Chuck Templeton, OpenTable.com’s founder and CEO. “Their support will be instrumental in our building the largest real-time restaurant reservation network. We’re pleased that they share our enthusiasm for simplifying the reservation experience for consumers, and revolutionizing the way restaurants understand and communicate with guests.”
American Express Company is a diversified worldwide travel, financial and network services company founded in 1850. It is a leader in charge and credit cards, Travelers Cheques, travel, financial planning, investment products, insurance and international banking. At www.americanexpress.com, consumers, small businesses and corporations can choose from a range of Internet products and services. American Express is making minority equity investments in emerging Internet companies, as well as building strategic alliances with these organizations by signing marketing and supplier agreements, obtaining exclusive offers for customers, or targeting investment dollars for marketing purposes.
OpenTable.com, Inc., a leading online restaurant reservation network, is based in San Francisco, California, and has offices in New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Seattle and Washington, D.C. OpenTable.com is an Internet company dedicated to providing diners with the best possible reservation experience, and restaurants with the best available customer management tools.
OpenTable.com has partnered with restaurants from An American Restaurant Group, Ark Restaurants Corp., California Café Restaurant Corp., the Lark Creek Group, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc., Real Restaurant Group, Restaurants Unlimited and Union Square Hospitality Group. OpenTable.com is backed by leading Venture Capital Firms including Impact Venture Partners, Benchmark Capital and Prescient Capital. For more information visit www.opentable.com or call 800.OPENTABLE.
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