CommonPlaces' shares will convert into roughly 25 percent of the shares of the new company. The merger is expected to become effective in September, subject to certain conditions including approval by YouthStream's shareholders. Under the new operational structure, Harlan Peltz will continue to serve as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of YouthStream, and Ben Bassi, formerly President and Chief Executive Officer of CommonPlaces, will become President of YouthStream. As a result of this transaction, YouthStream's shareholders will own 100 percent of the company's combined assets through the publicly traded stock. By combining the strengths of both companies, YouthStream completely surrounds the young adult market via the Internet and off-line.
College students represent a wired, yet largely untapped market segment.
Most significantly, this Internet savvy segment constitutes a group that is just beginning to develop potentially lifelong brand loyalties, according to Jupiter. Through this merger, we are creating an entirely new corporate paradigm. Never before has a single company so completely surrounded a vertical market. By providing direct access every day to students where they live and work, both on campus and online, we are enabling marketers to leverage traditional marketing avenues to drive e-commerce transactions among young adults. This move will enable us to rapidly accelerate our ability to meet our goals - by dramatically increasing our marketing focus and leveraging the significant resources and infrastructure available through YouthStream.