Johnson & Johnson Acquires BabyCenter

Johnson & Johnson has acquired BabyCenter, Inc., from eToys, Inc. BabyCenter.com (http://www.babycenter.com), serving expectant and new mothers and fathers, is the largest and best-known online parenting resource. The BabyCenter family of Web sites also includes ParentCenter.com (http://www.parentcenter.com) and BabyCentre.co.uk (http://www.babycentre.co.uk).

“BabyCenter and Johnson & Johnson share a commitment to help parents raise healthy kids,” said Mari Baker, General Manager of BabyCenter. “This acquisition provides BabyCenter with the ability to continue to grow and expand our services to the millions of parents who rely on BabyCenter in the United States and abroad.”

“Johnson & Johnson was attracted to the superior content and personalized relationship that BabyCenter, as the leading online parenting brand, has created with millions of parents from conception through childhood,” said Christian Koffmann, Worldwide Chairman, Consumer and Personal Care Group, Johnson & Johnson. BabyCenter’s advertising business and all other site activity, including thousands of health and parenting articles, weekly e-mail newsletters, and its vibrant online community, will continue to operate independently. The BabyCenter Store was not a part of the transaction, and will be temporarily closed.

Throughout its three-year history, BabyCenter has received numerous awards for its Web site and services. It was ranked as the Web site with the highest customer loyalty according to the first-ever Dialscore study. BabyCenter will be part of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc. It will remain based in San Francisco, CA. BabyCenter expects to retain and add to the current staff. The purchase was an all cash transaction valued at approximately $10 million.