The first edition of the Magill Report dropped in my mailbox (and the mailboxes of lots of other people judged by my twitter feed) this afternoon. In his newsletter, tucked between an announcement of a new DMA CEO and rather depressing news about how long it’s taking to find jobs, he announced that Goodmail is being offered for sale. It seems that an investment banking firm is offering a company it calls “Project Conduit.”

“Project Conduit (or the ‘Company’) is a leading email certification provider guaranteeing delivery of email for senders (brands) and their distribution or marketing agents,” the pitch letter said. “The Company’s core solution is certified email – an email delivery technology designed to ensure that the email bypasses spam filters and reliably reaches the recipients with links and images intact.”

Ken talked to Goodmail, Return Path and ISIPP. Both Return Path and ISIPP denied being the company referenced. Goodmail, on the other hand, responded to Ken’s inquiry with a short statement.

Several months ago, Goodmail began a large scale industry initiative to leverage on its successful email certification business and its unique enhanced email technology which enables video and interactivity.
While we courted participation in this initiative, we caught the attention of several very large companies. These companies expressed interest that went beyond participation. In response, to help us evaluate this interest and determine whether a transaction is in the best interest of our shareholders, we retained the services of an investment bank.

Ken’s article also discusses the implications of Goodmail no longer in use by Yahoo. Go read the whole article (and sign up).

Goodmail • magill • Return Path