William Acquires stake in eWinesource.com Inc.
- Smartest "tailored-to-business" Global Internet portal will provide an
interactive, powerful alliance of content, commerce and community,
benefiting both the wine industry and its consumers
- Multi-revenue stream business model taps into potential market of over
US $100 Billion per year
- Strategic Alliance with American Express Publishing
- Only industry business model endorsed by all members of the
"three-tier" supply chain
TORONTO, Sept. 1 /CNW/ - William Multi-Tech Inc., formerly William
Resources Inc., ("William") (TSE:WIM) is pleased to announce that it has
acquired a stake in eWinesource.com Inc., a privately held online wine
magazine positioned in the Internet economy as a vertical marketing business
portal specifically designed for the global wine industry. Under a definitive
agreement William has agreed to acquire a 100% interest into eWinesource.com
Inc. for US $3.3 million in exchange for approximately 34,886,000 Common
Shares of William issued out of its treasury. William retained Coniston
Investment Corporation to act as an advisor in connection with this
transaction.
eWinesource.com is an Internet web portal company launching initially in
the United States, which will provide informative content about wines and
wineries to viewers globally, enabling them to critique, source and purchase
products online from anywhere in the world, yet receive delivery from the
local retail wine shop. The web portal does not act as an online superstore
selling wine, but acts as a facilitator to consumers from local retailers for
the sale of wines from around the world, plus a range of value added features.
With the assistance and endorsement of distributors, this non-confrontational
system permits retailers to maintain control over their customer
relationships, and deliver orders locally thereby satisfying all state, local
tax and licensing laws.
In the wine industry there is a potential market of over US $100 billion
per year. As of today there is no global vertical marketing business portal
(business-to-business and business-to-consumer) existing for the wine
industry, leaving eWinesource.com in a very unique position.
The low cost, easy-to-use website will allow wine shops, wineries and
distributors to list their products for sale with links to descriptions and
reviews and informative content. Therefore consumers can enjoy a simple but
significantly new opportunity to buy wine using self-directed procedures to
get information from a variety of credible sources, in an attractive forum
which offers them a strong sense of community, content and commerce.
One of the key factors that will contribute to the long-term
profitability of the business model is the endorsement by all members of the
supply chain. This critical component provides the key to multiple revenue
streams. Brand building with the client-partners focuses primarily to-site
point-of-sale with retailers and restaurants thereby presenting an
extraordinarily high target market reach, at low cost.
eWinesource.com will have a robust, lively and up-to-date online wine
magazine with exclusive aggregated content wrapped around a combination of e-
commerce features, using local storefronts, shopping and promotional
technology applications. This presents a unique business proposition in an
enterprise with a series of sustainable revenue sources by providing business-
to-business, business-to-consumer and consumer-to-consumer Internet services,
such as "best-of-breed" web site/enterprise/storefront design, hosting and
payment transaction services, advertising and promotional services, and will
also receive fees from content carriage, affiliate licensing, membership
services, auctions, newsletters, wine gifts and data mining/metric services.
This range of value-added opportunities through each sequence of the existing
supply chain from the wine merchant to the consumer has the endorsement and
support from all levels of the existing 3-tier system and is a critical
component providing the key to multiple revenue streams.
"Our unique and scalable business model is the result of eWinesource's
ability to develop compelling advantages to the consumer, while offering
significant value-added to the wineries, distributors, retailers and
restaurants in the supply chain, all of whom are client-partners", said Mr
Robert Hausner, President and Chief Executive Officer of eWinesource. "We are
also encouraged by the many approaches from potential strategic alliance
partners who see the unique advantages of this non-confrontational business
model that maintains the integrity of the existing supply chain. We have also
built a world-class team of celebrity writers who contribute to the wine
magazine and completing a substantial data base of wine descriptions and
reviews".
eWinesource.com is a 'smart mover' positioned to extend key strategic
partnerships, alliances, affiliations and OEM licensing agreements with key
players in the wine and related industries. The strategic alliance between
eWinesource.com and American Express Publishing is one such example where they
were able to reach a specialized, targeted direct contact with privileged Amex
cardholders.
"We believe that eWinesource.com's advanced content, commerce and
community package, endorsed and distributed through the vertical marketing and
existing supply chain of wine business, provides unique opportunities for wine
merchants and the consumers to take advantage of the huge potential that the
Internet offers," said Stan Bharti, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
William.
Separately, the existing shareholders of eWinesource.com Inc. have
undertaken, within 120 days (or any such longer period as agreed by William)
from the closing of the acquisition by William of eWinesource, to subscribe
for 50% of the shares of eWinesource paid in cash, from the resale of their
Common Shares of William, resulting in a 50% interest in eWinesource.com Inc.
for William.
About William Multi-Tech Inc:
-----------------------------
William (http://www.williammultitech.com) is focused on acting as an
incubator for companies involved in the communications, biotechnology and
other high-technology/Internet areas. William provides these companies with
financing, strategic planning and management resources to aid in their
expansion programs, and to assist them with their corporate development.
William is in advanced discussions on other transactions and expects to
announce further developments in the near future.
The Toronto Stock Exchange has determined that William has changed the
nature of its business and must meet all of the original listing requirements
of the Exchange by December 31, 2000. If the Company fails to meet original
listing requirements by the stated deadline, the Exchange may suspend trading
in the Company's shares or require the Company to delist from the Exchange.
%SEDAR: 00001781E
-30-
For further information: Contact William Multi-Tech Inc: Reg Burden,
Investor Relations, Tel: (416) 861-9500, Fax: (416) 861-8165 |
