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Posted By: Mark

What does everyone think about the PSA-GAI merger? IMHO, I think it will be bad for collectors to have only two choices.

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Press ReleaseSource: Collectors Universe, Inc.
Collectors Universe, Inc. Announces Acquisition of Global Authentication Inc.
Friday April 1, 2005, 11:49 am ET
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., April 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Collectors Universe, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLCT - News), today announced that it has entered into a merger and acquisition agreement with Global Authentication Inc. Global Authentication authenticates and grades sports collectibles, including high-end authenticated trading cards and memorabilia. Professional Sports Authenticator, a division of Collectors Universe, similarly provides value-added authentication and grading services with respect to sports collectibles. Pending antitrust approval, the merger is expected to be completed by April 30 and will give Collector’s Universe an estimated 80-85 percent market share of the sports collectibles authentication market. Joe Orlando, President of PSA and PSA/DNA, issued the following statement: “Both PSA and Global have are well-known brands in the collectibles industry and the synergy that will result from this combination of both companies’ expertise will be good for our worldwide network of dealers and good for collectors.” Global Authentication was started by former employees of Collector’s Universe and its offices are located in the adjacent city of Irvine, California.