itemus Continues to Attract Significant Talent to Management Team:
Appoints Former General Electric Executive as EVP Global Business
Development
TORONTO, ONTARIO--itemus inc. (TSE:VEN; OTCBB:VENGF; AUS:VEN) announced
today that Mr. Aris Kekedjian has joined the company as Executive Vice
President, Global Business Development, effective immediately. In this
capacity, Mr. Kekedjian will have responsibility for business development,
strategic planning, and acquisitions and partnerships.
As a leader with the General Electric (GE) Company for the past 11 years,
Mr. Kekedjian held a number of executive and strategic positions. Most
recently, as a Senior Vice President - Global Business Development and
Strategic Planning, and Managing Director - Latin America, he developed and
led various business strategies of globalization, consolidation,
diversification and e-business partnerships.
In this capacity, he built a world-class team of professionals on 3
continents with full responsibility for sourcing, pricing, negotiation and
closure of business acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures and equity
investments. He completed 10 acquisitions and 2 joint ventures in 11
countries, established new geographic platforms in Japan, Brazil, Mexico,
Finland, Sweden, and New Zealand and built a significant pipeline of
on-line business-to-business and wireless technology partnerships and
transactions. Over the past 2 years, Mr. Kekedjian also closed 10 strategic
equity investments across 5 countries with an annual average rate of return
of 169%.
Mr. Kekedjian was a leader in the rollout of GE's highly successful "Six
Sigma" quality initiative. Previous to that experience, he spent five years
as part of the highly regarded GE Audit Staff where he led global teams
focused on driving process improvements, improved financial performance and
the integration of acquisitions across GE's worldwide network of
businesses.
Mr. Kekedjian joins an accomplished senior management team at itemus that
includes executives with proven track records in the areas of financial,
networking and management support to North American entrepreneurs. "Aris
brings two new important dimensions to itemus' work with entrepreneurs: a
focus on globalization and a deep expertise in structured finance, much of
it within an Internet context. We are very pleased to welcome Aris to our
team," said Jim Tobin, itemus President and CEO.
"With its world-class entrepreneurial and operational leadership team,
global vision and winning strategy, itemus is poised to emerge at the
forefront of the New Economy. I am delighted to be joining this exciting
company," said Mr. Kekedjian.
itemus inc. is a New Economy corporation that creates revolutionary
applications and business models for the Internet. Canadian based, but
global in scope and scale, itemus participates in all stages of the value
creation process: early stage incubation, smart venture investment,
converting bricks-and-mortar to dot-com companies and unlocking the hidden
value in public technology enterprises. With development, hosting and
business service infrastructure in several cities, itemus focuses on
opportunities in next generation networking, financial intermediation for
e-commerce and rich media.
itemus inc. is the proposed name for Vengold Inc. and is subject to
approval by shareholders at the Company's annual general meeting on April
26 in Toronto.
This news release may contain certain forward-looking statements that
reflect the current views and/or expectations of itemus inc. with respect
to its performance, business and future events. These statements involve
risks and uncertainties that could affect anticipated results. As such,
results could differ significantly.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Vengold Inc.
Mark Maybank
EVP, Media Inquiries
(416) 941-1250
Email: mmaybank@itemus.com
Website: www.vengold.com
or
Vengold Inc.
Ian Telfer
Chairman, Investor Inquiries
(604) 664-7050
(604) 681-9151 (FAX)
Email: itelfer@itemus.com |
