N2K, Inc.
(www.n2k.com)
Ticker:NTKI 55 Broad Street, 10th Floor
Exchange:NASDAQ-National Market New York, NY 10004
Industry:High-Tech (SIC Code 7375) (212) 378-5555
# of Employees:190

Offering Information
Type of Shares:Common Shares Filing Date:8/7/97
U.S. Shares:3,330,221 Offer Date:10/17/97
Non-U.S. Shares:0 Filing Range: -
Primary Shares:3,330,221 Offer Price:$19.00
Secondary Shares:0 Gross Spread:$1.33
Offering Amount: Selling:$0.79
Expenses: - Reallowance:$0.10
Shares Out After: -

Primary Underwriting Group
ManagerTierPhone
PaineWebber IncorporatedLead Manager (212) 713-2626
Unterberg HarrisCo-manager (212) 572-8060

Legal Counsel, Auditor and Registrar
Issuer's Law Firm: Dewey Ballantine
Bank's Law Firm: O'Sullivan Graev & Karaball, L.LP
Auditor: Arthur Andersen

Selected Financial Data

Dollar amounts in U.S. millions except for per share data
3 Month Ending Financials
Full Year
Audited
Income
Latest
Unaudited
Income
Prior
Unaudited
Income
Balance
Sheet
12/31/96 3/31/97 3/31/96 3/31/97
Revenue:$1.66$1.12$0.22Assets:$7.82
Net Income:-$18.91-$4.52-$5.38Curr Assets:$2.79
EPS:Liabilities:$7.43
Prior EPS:-$3.39-$1.25Curr Liabilities:$4.62
Cash Flow/Oper:-$10.73$0.80$2.58Equity:$0.39
Cash Flow/Fin:$18.50-$0.78-$0.39Cash:$1.12
Cash Flow/Inv:-$3.83-$0.78Working Cap:-$1.83

Business Description
The company is a music entertainment company planning to use the Internet to market, promote and distribute compact disks, cassettes and related music merchandise. By combining its music industry and technical expertise, N2K has created and interactive, entertaining and content-rich online environment, which includes its award-winning merchandising website, Music Boulevard, music genre websites, Jazz Central Station and Rocktropolis, and individual artist websites for such artists as David Bowie and the Rolling Stones. These websites provide a comprehensive entertainment and information resource enabling users to search and sample music and artist information interactively through sound, video, graphics. Each of the music genre and individual artist websites features a hotlink directly with Music Boulevard to facilitate purchases of CDs, casettes and related merchandise. The Company plans to introduce its own recorded music label, N2K Encoded Music, with its first release scheduled for October 1996.

Competition
The market for Internet content providers is highly competitive and rapidly changing. Since the Internet's commercialization in the early 1990's, the number of websites on the Internet competing for consumers' attention and spending has proliferated. With no substantial barriers to entry, the Company expects that competition will continue to intensify. Currently, there are more than one hundred music retailing websites on the Internet. With respect to competing for consumers' attention, in addition to intense competition from Internet content providers, the Company also faces competition from traditional media such as radio, television and print. N2K Encoded Music competes with the major, and other independent, record labels. With respect to recorded music sales, the Company competes with numerous Internet retailers, including traditional music retail chains, record labels and independents with websites on the Internet. In addition, the Company competes with traditional retail stores, including chains and megastores, mass merchandisers, consumer electronics stores and music clubs. The Company believes that the primary competitive factors in providing music entertainment products and services via the Internet are name recognition, variety of value-added services, ease of use, price, quality of service, availability of customer support, reliability, technical expertise and experience. The Company's success in this market will depend heavily upon its ability to provide high quality, entertaining content, along with cutting-edge technology and value-added Internet services. Other factors that will affect the Company's success include the Company's continued ability to attract experienced marketing, sales and management talent. In addition, the competition for advertising revenues, both on Internet websites and in more traditional media, is intense. The Company believes that its editorial commitment to high-quality music-related content, offered free of charge, is an important differentiator from other music-related and music-merchandising websites. Many of the Company's current and potential competitors in the Internet and music entertainment businesses have longer operating histories, significantly greater financial, technical and marketing resources, greater name recognition and larger existing customer bases than the Company. These competitors may be able to respond more quickly to new or emerging technologies and changes in customer requirements and to devote greater resources to the development, promotion and sale of their products or services than the Company. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to compete successfully against current or future competitors.

Business Plan
The company's strategy includes the following key elements: (I) Create Strong Brand Awareness, (ii) Develop Key Industry and Website Alliances, (iii) Offer Largest Selection of Music and Related Merchandise, (iv) Build User Communities and Attract Advertising, (v) Leverage Infrastructure Through Multiple Websites, (vi) Expand International Presence and (vii) Build and Leverage N2K Encoded Music Label.

Use of Proceeds
The proceeds from the proposed offering will be used for sales and marketing, research and development, working capital and other general coprorate purposes, which may include acquisitions of or investments in complementary businesses, products and technologies.

Executive Officers and Directors
Officer NameTitleAge
Lawrence L. RosenChairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer57
James E. CoanePresident, Chief Operating Officer and Director57
Philip RamonePresident, N2K Encoded Music58
Jerold RosenSenior Vice President and General Manager -- On-line Entertainment29
Daniel E. MeyerSenior Vice President and General Manager -- On-line Information41
Robert David GruisinVice Chairman and Director63
Jonathan V. DiamondVice Chairman and Director38
Bruce JohnsonVice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Chief Financial Officer and Director47

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