NEEDHAM, Mass. - The Ozer Group has been hired by Giftworld.com, of New York, to facilitate the sale of the online gift services company. The agreement is part of Ozer's continued expansion into the rapidly growing field of e-tail mergers and acquisitions.

Ozer will look for one or multiple investors to buy Giftworld or to purchase the assets of the e-tailer in smaller blocks. The company's assets include valuable e-commerce technology infrastructure and intellectual property, brandable URL's, such as giftworld.com, iforgot.com, iregister.com and iremind.com, software licenses, 1-800 numbers, WAP access codes and exclusive gift supplier agreements.

Giftworld.com was founded in July 1999 and has been one of the nation's premier gift services companies. Its site has been rated #3 of 17 entrants in the Gift category by Gomez Advisors, the leading e-consumer services industry analyst. Its innovative B2B and consumer e-gift solutions offer hundreds of leading brands and a wide selection of gift-packaged products and services to customers.

Giftworld.com has a full suite of gift reminder and registry services and currently has more than 1,500 gifts, making it the largest gift collection on the Internet. Giftworld is the only Internet gift site to offer same-day delivery in 12-major cities, including Boston, Chicago, New York, Seattle and Washington, D.C. The company has numerous promotional partnerships, including a strategic alliance with CNN, and more than 1,500 affiliates and partners.

"Despite its success, however, Giftworld is part of the rising tide of e-tailers that have been squeezed by the sudden decrease in available financing, while they work toward profitability," explained Mark Stein, President of The Ozer Group. "These e-tailers provide an exceptional opportunity for existing companies to expand their Internet offerings or for companies to initiate an Internet presence. When a company like Giftworld.com becomes available, it makes it possible for someone to hit the groundrunning with existing technology and infrastructure at a fraction of the price that it normally takes to get there."

There has already been interest expressed by a few major portals and one of the leading current Internet gift-sellers, Stein said.

Stein said he expects to see a growing number of e-tail transactions like this one during the next several months, as finding new funding for dot.com companies remains difficult. With a management team composed of former retailers and retail experts, The Ozer Group has been receiving significant attention for its insights into the changing landscape of e-retail.

Based in Needham, Mass., The Ozer Group is one of the country's leading retail consulting, business evaluation and asset disposition firms. Ozer is quick, flexible and creative in offering solutions to retailers of all sizes throughout North America and Europe. In addition to helping companies maximize realization for their assets, Ozer manages human resources issues, real estate relationships and other critical areas that are affected when companies undergo change. Ozer's management and partners are retailers who have managed thousands of stores and billions of dollars in inventory. You can learn more about The Ozer Group at www.ozergroup.com.