FTD AGREES TO BUY PROFLOWERS

Courtesy of Flowersandcents.com

July 30, 2014To Our Valued Florists, We are pleased to announce that FTD has entered into an agreement to acquire Provide Commerce, enhancing our position as one of the leading and most trusted floral and gifting companies in the world. First and foremost, I want to assure you that we remain fully committed to our member florists, who will remain the backbone of FTD. The floral and gift industry continues to evolve – more than ever, the consumer is in control of where and how they shop. Quality offerings are more prominently positioned in grocery and mass market stores. In most every consumer category, consumers are migrating to e-commerce and mobile platforms. In the face of this changing landscape, it is our responsibility to attract as much consumer demand as possible to FTD, and subsequently, our member florists.

Provide Commerce operates under several popular brands in the online floral and gifting category, including ProFlowers. ProFlowers offers floral arrangements that are direct shipped to consumers, as well as same day floral delivery. In addition to floral products, Provide also sells and markets several leading non-floral gifting brands, including Shari’s Berries and Personal Creations.

We believe this transaction will be value creating for FTD, our member florists and the floral industry as a whole. Together, we can assure you, our marketing will be supportive of the floral industry and our member florists, we will attract a wider complement of consumers into our floral and gifting business, and we will have greater resources to dedicate towards the success of our member florists.

Following the completion of this acquisition, we will take the following steps to directly benefit our member florists:

• Following closing of this transaction, we expect to generate significant additional florist filled order volume for the FTD network. FTD member florists will have opportunities to receive increased order volume and additional customers to market to locally.
• This acquisition will enhance our ability to invest in national brand advertising, which will showcase our member florists and FTD products. In addition, we plan to reintroduce our member florist local marketing program, formerly known as “FTD AdPlus,” designed to help you drive business in your local area.
• We will continue to invest in our “best in class” Mercury Point of Sale and enhance member web sites, which will further drive traffic and local order volume. Both represent critical products for FTD florist members to more effectively manage and grow their businesses.
• The acquisition will further enhance our roster of respected and established brands in the consumer gifting category, including the addition of Shari’s Berries and Personal Creations. As a consequence, FTD member florists will have access to these products through our wholesale catalogue and web gift program.
• This acquisition will also strengthen our procurement and logistics capabilities, enabling us to provide our member florists with access to lower cost goods (both flower and container), thereby improving efficiency and order profitability.

I want to assure you that our support and dedication to you, our local member florists, will remain unchanged. You are, and will remain, the heart and soul of FTD, and we will continue to focus on supporting you over the long-term, providing you with services that are designed to elevate your store’s reputation and promote revenue growth.

Our members will continue to have access to our iconic Mercury Man logo, an internationally recognized symbol of excellence displayed in nearly 40,000 dedicated florist shops in 150 countries around the world. Our mission is to inspire and delight our customers when expressing life’s most important sentiments and this acquisition will serve us well in this pursuit.

This acquisition is not expected to close until later this year – we will provide you with additional updates as we progress further. I have the utmost confidence that the integration process will be smooth and streamlined, with minimal to no interruption for member florists.

We sincerely thank you, again, for your continued support of FTD. We look forward to embarking on this exciting new chapter of FTD’s storied history alongside our member florists.

Best regards,

Rob Apatoff
President & Chief Executive Officer
FTD Companies, Inc.

Additional Information FTD will solicit the required approval of its stockholders by means of a proxy statement, which will be mailed to stockholders upon completion of the required Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing and review process. The proxy statement will contain information about FTD, Provide Commerce, the proposed transaction and related matters. FTD stockholders are urged to read the proxy statement carefully when it is available, as it will contain important information that stockholders should consider before making a decision about the transaction. In addition to receiving the proxy statement from FTD in the mail, stockholders will also be able to obtain the proxy statement, as well as other filings containing information about FTD, without charge, at the SEC’s web site, www.sec.gov, or from FTD at its website, www.ftdcompanies.com, or FTD Companies, Inc., 3113 Woodcreek Drive, Downers Grove, IL 60515, Attention: Corporate Secretary.