FiberChem and Intrex Announce Joint Venture With Cornerstone Propane LP
LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 9, 2000--FiberChem Inc. (OTCBB:FOCS) announced that its merger partner, Intrex Data Communications Corp., has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Cornerstone Propane Partners LP (NYSE:CNO) to form a joint venture to market Intrex's proprietary monitoring system to the propane industry world-wide.
This joint venture will become part of the FiberChem/Intrex merged company, which is to be renamed DecisionLink, Incorporated.
The joint-venture vehicle will be equally owned by Cornerstone and DecisionLink. The joint venture will market a product package consisting of Intrex's proprietary sensor and communication system and Cornerstone's dispatch and delivery software using the ORBCOMM low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network for data transmission.
Cornerstone Propane Partners, LP is a master limited partnership with annual sales of over $2 billion. The Partnership is the nation's fourth largest retail propane marketer serving over 460,000 customers with annual sales of approximately 300 million retail gallons, doing business in 34 states through 299 customer service centers.
Its North American energy solutions service division, Coast Energy Group (CEG), supplies, purchases, processes and markets over 48,000 barrels per day of natural gas liquids to resellers and major end users. CEG also sells approximately 1.0 Bcf per day of natural gas and 100,000 barrels per day of crude oil in the United States and Canada.
The joint venture will begin operations this summer. The first phase will be the installation of approximately 6,000 units on propane tanks owned by one of Cornerstone's business units in California. Cornerstone expects to outfit the majority of its 460,000 installations with the joint venture package in the second phase of installations beginning next year.
The joint-venture will begin marketing the propane monitoring system internationally this year and in North America in early 2001. Marketing will be through direct contacts in the propane industry and through ORBCOMM's international service distribution partners.
Geoffrey Hewitt, CEO of FiberChem, said: "Obviously we are very pleased with this joint-venture agreement. The scope of the agreement with Intrex is beyond our original expectations. We are confident that Intrex will continue to contribute substantially to the growth of DecisionLink and will use both its and FiberChem's technology to attract similar new venture partners.
"We have said that Intrex's contribution to the growth of DecisionLink is going to be significantly larger than first thought and this joint-venture is an example of what we expect to see continue."
David Peachey, CEO of Intrex, said: "It is exciting to be involved with an aggressive forward-thinking company like Cornerstone. They recognize that technology can change how an industry operates in bringing service excellence to its customers. With Cornerstone's intimate knowledge of the propane industry and Intrex's communications skills we will be able to offer propane companies a fully integrated reporting and dispatch system."
Peachey continued: "Although the United States market is large, we don't think it can compare with the size of International markets. Cornerstone and Intrex began working together at ORBCOMM's annual Global Solutions Conference held in Atlanta in early April, and the response from ORBCOMM's international service distribution partners was impressive.
"We are now working on putting together marketing packages for propane tank monitoring systems in a number of countries throughout the world. We believe that the future for DecisonLink is putting together strategic partnerships with leading companies in a variety of industries. Companies like Cornerstone and ORBCOMM teamed with DecisionLink will create a formidable marketing team and a significant presence in the emerging world of B 2 B wireless data communications."
Keith G. Baxter, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cornerstone, said: "This new package of products will redefine the propane distribution model on a global basis. No longer will the primary objective of the local propane customer service center be focused on how to route the center's customers.
"Demand, which has been impossible to consistently predict on a year round basis, will be monitored daily and alarms built into the system to ensure a hassle-free experience for the customer. In addition, the local manager can concentrate on expanded products and services to the existing customer base, as well as expanding to new service areas."
This release includes forward-looking statements relating to the Company's operations that are based on Management's and third parties' current expectations, estimates and projections. These statements are not guarantees of future performances and actual results could differ materially. The statements in this release regarding the installation of Intrex's systems in the propane industry, FCI's proposed business combination with Intrex, the combined entity's delivery of services over the Internet and the size of the market for the combined company's services, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, FCI's ability to complete the combination, the combined entity's ability to market its services using the two companies' technologies, the timely development and acceptance of new products, final promulgation and enforcement of regulations, the impact of competitive products and pricing, the timely funding of customers' projects, customer payments to the Company and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports.
Intrex is a private company that provides proprietary Internet and communications technology for communicating data to or from remote or mobile assets on a real-time basis using wireless, satellite and cellular data systems. Data is routed through Intrex's global network, which acts as a data gateway and applications service provider allowing customers to monitor and control remote or mobile assets such as gas wells, pipelines, compressors, storage tanks, offshore platforms, or service vehicles directly from a desktop PC.
Intrex is a licensed reseller of the ORBCOMM Global, L.P., the world's first commercial provider of global low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite data communication services. ORBCOMM is owned by Teleglobe, Inc. (NYSE:TGO; Toronto) and Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE:ORB). Intrex also has communications agreements that provide satellite services through Norcom, Inc. as well as digital cellular services.
FiberChem Inc. develops, manufactures, markets and licenses fiber optic chemical sensors that produce continuous, real-time information of environmental pollutants in the air, water and soil. These technologies are currently used in applications such as pipeline leak detection, aboveground storage tank monitoring, oil production, water quality monitoring and industrial wastewater compliance monitoring and control. |
