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WIT CAPITAL AND ENBA PLC TO ESTABLISH PAN-EUROPEAN INVESTMENT
House
Business Editors
NEW YORK/DUBLIN, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 26, 1999--
Joint Venture Unites Two Internet Pioneers to Transform
Capital Formation Across Europe
WIT CAPITAL GROUP, INC. (NASDAQ: WITC), the pioneer online investment banking group in the United States, and privately held enba, Europe's leading provider of Internet-only financial services, today announced their intention to combine efforts to establish a Pan-European investment banking firm, to be known as Wit Capital Europe. The joint venture is scheduled to open for business in early 2000, subject to obtaining the required regulatory approvals.
Similar to Wit Capital's model in the U.S., Wit Capital Europe will use the Internet to offer individual investors in Europe the opportunity to invest in IPOs, offerings of other securities and venture capital funds. In addition, Wit Capital Europe will provide access to proprietary institutional-quality investment research at no charge as well as online brokerage services. To issuers, Wit Capital Europe will provide a number of advisory services for companies developing Internet businesses in Europe, including U.S.-based companies seeking to create European joint ventures.
Wit Capital and enba will initially own 55 percent and 45 percent, respectively, of the equity of Wit Capital Europe. In proportion to their equity stakes, the parties will contribute to the joint venture an aggregate of US$10 million in capital. Each party will also license technology to the joint venture. Subject to regulatory and shareholder consent, Wit Capital will also acquire shares representing 12 percent of enba in exchange for 1,878,596 shares of Wit Capital, a value of approximately US$31 million based on yesterday's NASDAQ closing price for Wit Capital shares. "This joint venture creates a unique alliance between two established Internet companies. Combining enba's investment in technology and brokerage development experience in the European markets with Wit Capital's revolutionary model for capital formation will be a major benefit both to individual investors as well as issuers throughout Europe," said Wit Capital's president and co-chief executive officer Ronald Readmond. "The team that enba has assembled is truly exceptional and we are delighted to pursue our complementary visions as partners in every sense of the word."
In addition to providing access to IPOs and other securities offerings, Wit Capital Europe will closely collaborate with enba to offer an integrated consumer banking and brokerage service to individual investors throughout Europe, initially focussing on the United Kingdom, France and Germany. Since its inception, enba has been developing a technology platform to facilitate the provision of online consumer banking and brokerage on a Pan-European basis. In association with France's Banque d'Escompte and under the "first-e the internet bank" brand, enba recently launched Europe's first consumer banking service designed to operate solely over the Internet.
Commenting on the development, Dr. Gerhard Huber of enba and former CEO of Germany's Direkt Anlage Bank, said, "The synthesis of Wit Capital's capabilities in online investment banking and research with enba's technology platform and consumer banking solutions will create a Pan-European business that will be years ahead of traditional brick and mortar financial services firms in Europe. I am delighted to bring this investment into Ireland. This initiative places Dublin at centre stage of the burgeoning on-line financial services industry in Europe and internationally."
Wit Capital Europe will also become a participant in Wit Capital's emerging global network of affiliated investment banking and brokerage firms. The network aims to create a platform that will facilitate the online capital raising process for issuers across multiple countries. It will also benefit individual investors, allowing them to trade securities in multiple countries around the world. To date this network includes Wit Capital Corporation in the US and Wit Capital Japan, a development stage joint venture among Wit Capital Group and eleven Japanese companies including Mitsubishi Corporation, Trans Cosmos Inc., Sanwa Bank, Nikko Securities and Hikari Tsushin.
Goldman Sachs owns shares and warrants to purchase shares representing approximately 20 percent of Wit Capital, while Morgan Stanley is an investor in enba. Capital Z Partners, an affiliate of Zurich Re, is both an investor in enba and a pre-IPO investor in Wit Capital. Other venture stage investors in Wit Capital include Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Highland Capital and Mitsubishi Corporation, while enba's other investors include Apax Partners, CGU, Intel, Invision AG, Aureus and Vertex.
About Wit Capital Group, Inc.
Wit Capital Group, Inc. and its broker dealer subsidiary, Wit Capital Corporation, were founded in New York in 1996 to create the first online investment banking firm. Wit Capital Group, Inc. went public in June, 1999. With offices in New York and San Francisco, Wit Capital Corporation is an issuer-driven Internet investment banking firm that offers an array of investment banking services, including underwriting for public offerings, private equity services, strategic advisory, and institutional quality research.
Wit Capital Corporation also offers individual investors online brokerage services that include access to IPOs and other securities offerings that in the past have only been available to institutions and wealthy individuals.
Wit Capital Corporation is a registered broker-dealer and a member of NASD and SIPC. Wit Capital Group, Inc. is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol "WITC." For more information, please visit the Company's web site at witcapital.com.
About enba
enba is a Dublin based holding company formed to take the lead in European Internet based financial services. The company currently employs 160 people in Dublin. Headed by Dr. Gerhard Huber, enba's management team combines experienced financial services specialists with a background in banking and brokerage businesses in Europe, Asia and the United States. The Board of enba is chaired by Sir Nicholas Redmayne, formerly Chief Executive of Kleinwort Benson. Board members include Peter Blumenwitz, Mark Gormley, Jerker Johanson, Kheng Nam Lee, Peter Phillips and Peter Titz. Mr. Sean Donlon is a non-executive director. (see: www.first-e.com) |
