COGNICASE Enters the E-Business Vertical Real Estate
Portals Marketplace
FEBRUARY 23, 2000
MONTREAL, CANADA--
- Agreements with the Toronto and Vancouver Real Estate Boards.
- Partnership with a leading US MLS provider.
- Use of "Watch4Me7-24" for real estate portals.
COGNICASE INTERNET INNOVATIONS (CII), a business unit of COGNICASE
Inc. (Nasdaq:"COGI"), announced today that it has entered into an
agreement in principle to acquire a majority interest in RealWave
Software Inc., a leader in E-Business solutions. The transaction
is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be concluded
by March 2000.
RealWave is an Internet solutions company offering software
services in Web strategy, design and technology to rapidly develop
large and scalable E-Business solutions. In addition to the
Internet solutions business, RealWave has developed a complete
software product offering for the real estate industry.
Architected and developed for the Internet using Object Oriented
technology, this product is available as an enterprise offering
and as an ASP (Applications Service Provider) offering for the
North American real estate industry. The ASP offering will form
the core of an industry vertical portal supporting buyers and
stakeholders in the traditional real estate selling model
including agents, realtors and real estate Boards.
Current customers for this solution include the Toronto and
Vancouver Real Estate Boards, which together represent some 50 %
of the Canadian housing market. These Boards intend to use the
RealWave solution to create a Canadian National Multiple Listing
Service (MLS).
In partnership with a leading US-based MLS provider, RealWave also
intends to introduce this innovative product to the U.S. real
estate market. The National Association of Realtors(R) alone
accounts for more than 720,000 real estate brokers and agents.
In addition, the real estate portals will use the COGNICASE
INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES (CIT) products set, including the
"Watch4Me7-24" feature, for multi-channels communication through
wireless devices and the Internet.
"RealWave is excited by the opportunity to partner with the
COGNICASE INTERNET INNOVATIONS team. CII has established an
important presence in the E-Business and Internet portal space.
The synergy created by bringing together these two dynamic and
talented teams leaves us uniquely well positioned to pursue
opportunities in the rapidly growing B2B and B2C E-Business market
and to launch our ASP service," added Allan J. Raeside, President
of RealWave.
"We are excited to participate in the evolution of such an
innovative and dynamic company. COGNICASE INTERNET INNOVATIONS
(CII) was created to help Internet-oriented companies such as
RealWave accelerate their growth. CII will provide financial,
marketing and management support to leverage RealWave's unique
know-how in Internet technology and industry specific solutions
such as the real estate portal," said Tony Marinelli, Chief
Operating Officer, CII.
RealWave is a leading provider of E-Business solutions in the
Internet space. RealWave applications development teams leverage
Object technology to create robust and scalable Web solutions. In
addition to the professional services offered by its E-Business
specialists, RealWave also provides high-end E-Services solutions
targeting the real estate industry in North America.
COGNICASE is among the North American leaders in the
implementation of business solutions that leverage information
technology, with offices in several major North American and
European business centers. Based on its business results-driven
approach, Internet Software Technologies, international IT
engineering / hosting center and critical mass of business and
technology expertise, COGNICASE offers innovative solutions that
contribute to the success of its customers in the digital economy.
Our solutions include: implementation of turnkey E-Business
solutions including portal development and evolution, E-Services
software and solutions, re-engineering of existing applications
for E-Business, technology configuration management, as well as
project management and business process improvement consulting
services.
COGNICASE INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES (CIT), a business unit of
COGNICASE Inc., delivers "smart information on demand" by
developing leading edge Internet and wireless software solutions.
It capitalizes on COGNICASE'S Internet products, re-engineering
technologies and search engine based on rules and fuzzy logic, and
using JAVA and XML.
COGNICASE INTERNET INNOVATIONS (CII), a business unit of COGNICASE
Inc., positions COGNICASE at the top of the Internet value chain
through the innovation and creation of new e-businesses. CII will
seek out, create, incubate and promote Internet Portal
initiatives. The end result will be a network of interwoven
Internet Portals targeting both vertical markets and diverse
communities and allow COGNICASE to take full advantage of the
Internet economy.
The completion of the transaction described in this press release
is subject to certain factors including satisfactory due diligence
by COGNICASE Inc. and the negotiation and finalization of
definitive agreements. |
