July 28, 1999 08:20
MBTI Closes On Acquisition of Four Web Sites: Company Acquires Four
Equestrian/Agricultural Sites From IMall Global
CASTLE ROCK, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 28, 1999--MBT International Inc. (OTC: MBTI), owner of the
premier Internet web sites focused on e-commerce and auctions for the farming, agricultural and horse-related
industries, today announced it has closed on its acquisition of four equestrian/agricultural related web sites
from Fairfield, Connecticut-based IMall Global.
Terms of the acquisition, which included a combination of cash and stock, were not disclosed.
EquestrianMall.com was launched two years ago and currently displays 42,000 products. The site has over
60 different suppliers selling the top brands in the industry such as Nelson Pessoa Saddles, On Course
Breeches, Pytchley and many more top brands. The site will offer more than 150,000 products online by
year-end. With the acquisition of EquestrianMall.com, MBTI and its other web properties will be able to offer
one stop shopping for the rancher, farmer and equestrian by integrating e-commerce into all of the MBTI sites.
Equestrian Mall not only offers online shopping, it currently prints a high end mail order catalog that will grow
another 25 pages. This printing will be in August of 1999. Catalog sales were tremendous for Equestrian Mall
which converted 12% of every 100 catalogs mailed out with an average order of $119.00. By utilizing MBTIs
mailing list of 150,000, Equestrian Mall's database of 20,000 and other acquired mailing lists, this trend is
expected to continue and claim considerable market share in the Equestrian/Agricultural Retail Industry.
HorseChat.com serves as a community site. It offers 16 chat rooms, with the function that allows for chatters
to create their own chats and discussion forums. It has guest speakers, professional riders and trainers,
offering moderated chats to further increase traffic into the site and the rest of the EquestrianMall.com
network. Horsechat.com is already the leading chat site in the equestrian market. It uses the most
sophisticated and user friendly software available providing chatters with a great community experience.
HorseChat will soon be integrated with products and department links provided by EquestrianMall.com and all
other MBTI properties. HorseChat will take advantage of rotating banners throughout the chats rooms to
generate advertising revenue.
EquiSeek.com serves as a Gateway to the Horse World. It provides links to equestrian/agricultural sites all
over the world. EquiSeek will soon offer news, free email and many more features to continue increasing
traffic. EquestrianMall.com is already integrated at EquiSeek.com with drop down navigation boxes and
special product highlights. Banners will be sold in order to generate additional income.
EquiAuction.com is not live at the moment but is under construction. EquestrianMall.com will supply MBTI
with thousands of new discounted products and closeouts ranging from apparel, boots, saddles, truck parts
and farming supplies, which will be offered through all the MBTI auction sites.
There will be links to all the MBTI online properties thus forming the largest network of Equestrian/Agricultural
sites on the Internet.
Commenting on the acquisition, Andy McKinnon, Chairman and CEO of MBTI, stated, "As previously stated,
the acquisition of these four web sites is very strategic in that it further solidifies MBTI as the premier online
equestrian/agricultural related company on the net today. MBTI continues to be one of the most aggressive
companies on the net in terms of acquiring synergistic companies and/or sites as we believe this is the
fastest and most effective way to increase traffic to our sites and build critical mass."
Mr. McKinnon continued, "We remain committed to ensuring that our sites and the products they offer, from
horses to farm equipment to live stock, are the most comprehensive array of farm and agricultural products
available today. We continue to build a business that will capture a considerable portion of this $300 billion
market."
Chris Cosper and Chris Papps, co-founders of IMall Global, said, "We are very excited to begin working with
MBTI. The integration of EquestrianMall.com, HorseChat.com, EquiSeek.com, EquiAuction.com and MBTI
will prove to be tremendous. MBTI will now have access to thousands of farm, equestrian and ranching
products for sale and use via their impressive auction software. We were thoroughly impressed with MBTI's
vision for the future of its websites and businesses."
MBTI has over 400,000 users and is the parent company of AgriMall.com (www.agrimall.com), Horsenet.com
(www.horsenet.com), LifeAtHome.com (www.lifeathome.com) and Bookstable.com (www.bookstable.com).
MBTI's strategy is to acquire content-rich, value-added and sophisticated yet navigable web sites, and to
become a leader in the $300 billion agricultural industry. MBTI continually evaluates highly focused
acquisitions that will further increase both the traffic and volume of e-commerce at its Agrimall.com site. MBTI
applies methodologies currently in use by online auction and marketing.
For additional information on MBTI, please visit the Company's web site at www.mbtinet.com.
Certain statements in this release are forward looking. Although MBTI believes its expectations are based on
reasonable assumptions within the bounds of its knowledge of its business and operations, there can be no
assurance that actual results will not differ materially from its expectations. For factors that may cause actual
results to differ materially from expectations and underlying assumptions, see reports by MBTI filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
CONTACT: MBT International, Inc., Castle Rock
Andy McKinnon, CEO
303/688-0244
Fax: 303/814-2382
or
Wolfe Axelrod Associates, New York
Stephen D. Axelrod, CFA / Jeffrey Volk
212/370-4500
Fax: 212/370-4505
steve@wolfeaxelrod.com
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