Capital Alliance Group Inc. ("CPT") and its Subsidiaries Plan to Access
US Market
Capital Alliance Group Inc CPT
Shares issued 6,158,674 Sep 29 close $1.19
Mon 2 Oct 2000 Company Sponsored
CAPITAL ALLIANCE GROUP INC.
CDNX Symbol: CPT
International Head Office:
Suite 1200, 777 West Broadway Vancouver, BC V5Z 4J7
Tel:604.871.9909 Fax:604.871.9919
Email: info@cag-global.com
*CNBC Asia Interview can be viewed at:
cag-global.com
*VBC Interview can be viewed at: viavid.com
Capital Alliance Group Inc. ("CPT") recently announced that it has filed
its registration statement on form 20-F with the United States Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC). The filing of the registration statement on
form 20-F is a necessary step before pursuing a stock exchange listing in
the U.S. In recent months two of CPT's majority owned companies SE Global
Equities Company Limited. ("SEG") and CIBT Canadian Institute of Business &
Technology Corp. ("CIBT") have signed letters of intent (LOI) with US based
companies. Following the mergers, SEG and CIBT plan to commence trading in
the US equities market.
Toby Chu, President and Chief Executive Officer of CPT, states that "we are
confident that these actions represent significant milestones in our
efforts to maximize shareholder value and will significantly enhance the
efforts of CPT and its two subsidiaries to broaden our international
shareholder base. We feel that accessing the US equity markets will allow
us to significantly increase our visibility and attractiveness within the
U.S. investment community. The opportunities and advantages that stem from
a market which is over 10 times the size of Canada's will bring with it
many benefits. As we drive forward with our plans, we are excited about the
potential this offers us."
SE GLOBAL EQUITIES COMPANY LIMITED ("SEG")
The global demand by both retail and institutional investors for equities
outside of their national borders has been growing at an accelerated pace
on a year over year basis. However, several major obstacles have hampered
the speed at which investors have been able to diversify into foreign
markets. These include the high transaction costs of cross border trading;
the inability to trade in some foreign markets; and the lack of information
on foreign companies and economies. Though several large international
brokerage firms do offer clients the ability to trade in a limited number
of international markets, the layered cost structure associated with cross
border trading often result in these firms charging high fees to complete
these transactions. In addition, due to a lack of a presence in many
foreign markets and the associated costs for research information, many of
these firms do not provide clients access to original research on companies
in many of the foreign markets for which they offer trading services.
Business Model
SEG has recognized the enormous global demand from investors to overcome
these obstacles and has spent over a year developing an innovative online
financial portal to capitalize on this opportunity. SEG's portal acts as a
gateway for investors from around the world to a truly global network of
Alliance Brokerage firms. SEG is not a broker. Rather, SEG's business model
is based on establishing alliances with brokerage firms in countries around
the world. SEG's portal links investors directly to these brokers for trade
execution and receives a fixed Internet portal fee from the brokers as
compensation for each transaction. This unique and far-reaching alliance of
brokers offers SEG's members the ability to invest online 24 hours a day at
discounted rates around the globe. With this arrangement, SEG has minimal
operation and expansion costs. This is the result of all market entry
costs, set up costs, brokerage overheads, regulatory fees, licensing fees
and other trading related costs being the responsibility of the individual
Alliance Brokerage firm.
Traditional online brokers entry into each market is dependent on the local
exchanges ability to provide a direct link to these online brokers' trade
servers. Many of the world's emerging stock markets are not yet Internet
enabled and thus cannot provide online brokers direct access to these
markets. SEG's technology allows offline brokerage houses to accept and
execute online orders placed through the SEG portal. This business model
allows SEG and its Alliance Brokers to capture international business
opportunities from abroad via the Internet without requiring the local
stock exchange to be Internet capable.
SEG's goal is to build a network of over 100 reputable brokerage firms
which will provide investors with direct access to companies trading on
over 50 of the world's established and emerging stock markets. Over the
past year, SEG has met with the senior management of over 150 brokerage
firms in 6 continents. To date, SEG has signed alliance agreements that
will enable SEG's members to trade in 16 stock exchanges in 13 countries,
and SEG is in the final stages of negotiations with many more firms. SEG
will continue to maximize its relationship with its network of top tier
brokerage firms to offer its members direct access to high quality original
research information and local market expertise. In order to further assist
investors, SEG will also provide essential information on foreign
countries, local business financial news, corporate announcements, live and
delayed quotes and analyst reports provided by SEG's Alliance Brokers. SEG
will also aggregate expressions of interest amongst its members for
exciting international private placement and IPO opportunities.
Income
SEG will generate revenue from multiple sources. For each transaction
generated through SEG's website, the Alliance Broker executing the
transaction will pay SEG a service fee. SEG will also generate revenue by:
providing its members access to "premium" member services, selling
marketing space, as well as business referral services fees from licensing
of "SEG's" trade name and its business strategies to potential investors
and entrepreneurs who wish to establish an Internet financial portal
service in their own native countries or regions. The suite of financial
products offered will eventually include access to options, bonds and
foreign currency markets.
Marketing Campaign
SEG's web site (www.SEGlobal.com) is being implemented in phases while it
continues to expand its global network. An aggressive marketing campaign
designed to achieve rapid market growth will coincide with the expansion
plan. This campaign will entail the extensive use of advertisements placed
on television, in magazines, in-flight videos on regional and international
airlines and through collaborations with other high-traffic Internet portal
sites. Initial commitments with CNN and CNBC and other prominent
international media companies have already been discussed. A preview of
three of SEG's dynamic 30-second commercials, which will be aired via the
CNN and CNBC networks, can be viewed at www.cag-global.com.
On September 27th, 2000 SEG announced that they had signed a letter of
intent outlining a proposed merger with Comet Technologies Inc. Comet is a
fully reporting company on the NASD OTC:BB.
To date, SEG has received paid in capital of over $5-million (U.S.) and is
currently in the process of completing additional private placements. Prior
to the merger, Comet will recapitalize so that following the merger the
total issued and outstanding shares of the new company will be
approximately 11.9 million shares. At that time, Capital Alliance Group
will hold approximately 9.5 million of these shares.
Following this U.S. listing, the merged company intends to obtain a dual
listing in Hong Kong during the first quarter of 2001, followed by a
further listing in Europe. Prior to its commencement of trading in Asia,
the new company will seek to raise additional capital for its operations
through SEG's sponsors Tai Fook and ICEA. Tai Fook is one of the top
securities brokerage firms in Hong Kong. ICEA Capital Limited, a subsidiary
of Industrial Commercial Bank of China is the largest bank in China with
36,000 branches. In 1998, ICEA was ranked as the third largest bank in the
world.
With the assistance of its unique business alliances, SEG intends to unite
the global financial community by allowing investors to have the
opportunity to discover new opportunities from emerging markets that were
previously unavailable.
CIBT CANADIAN INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY CORP. ("CIBT")
Business
Established in 1995, CIBT is positioning itself to become a leading
provider of both online and traditional educational services throughout
China. The CIBT's mission is to promote its educational programs by
establishing a network of academic and career development training
facilities throughout Asia using traditional classroom methods and Internet
delivery.
Target Market
At the moment, CIBT's primary market is China. China has a population base
of 1.2 billion people and is ranked the fastest growing country in Asia.
The growth of the Chinese economy through foreign investment has generated
an increasing demand for professionals with western-based skills. This
demand is expected to strengthen as China is in the final stages of having
its application approved for entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Following China's acceptance into the WTO, that country is expected to
experience a significant increase of foreign investment into China. CIBT's
target market within China includes: foreign corporations wanting to
further the education and knowledge of their employees; professionals who
want to advance their education by pursuing internationally recognized
undergraduate or graduate degrees; as well as working class adults with
high school certification and a desire for career advancement. CIBT's
current client roster includes Cable & Wireless, Glaxxo Wellcome, IBM,
Morgan Stanley, Motorola, Shell, Watson's Water, Unisys, and the World
Bank. Ongoing training contracts have also been signed by GE China,
Kimberly Clark, South Western Bell, Northern Telecom, Cathay International
Hotels, Unisys, Motorola China Inc., IBM China Corp., Schneider Electric
Motors (China) and Nestle Shuangcheng Ltd.
Partners
CIBT School of Business was founded as an educational institution jointly
formed by Beijing Polytechnic University (BPU) and CIBT Canadian Institute
of Business & Technology Corp. To address the escalating demand for both
western-based technical and academic degree programs in China, CIBT has
formed strategic alliances with City University of Bellevue, Washington and
the International Business Schools from Toronto, Ontario. These
arrangements enable CIBT to offer career and academic training as well as
advanced degree programs.
CIBT's partner City University has been a leader in business education at
the graduate and undergraduate levels for over 20 years, and is ranked as
the fifth among the universities with the largest MBA enrolment in North
America. Under their agreement, CIBT has been actively delivering City
University's curriculum in Beijing. In late 1998, China's State Academic
Degree Committee granted CIBT School of Business official approval for
their MBA program, making it one of only four to be officially & nationally
approved. According to Zhu Rongji, current Premier and former Economics
Czar, "if China is to come into the global economy as a consumer nation as
well as an exporter, China needs 300,000 MBA's as soon as practical."
CIBT's other partner from North America is the International Business
School (IBSI). IBSI is a Canadian public company and is the largest career
development training institution in Canada with over 50 locations.
Since its inception, CIBT has experienced an aggressive revenue growth rate
of greater than 50 per cent per year.
Online Education
CIBT has announced that as part of its plan to become a leading provider of
education services throughout China, it has launched two websites designed
to provide education services via the Internet. The website www.wangu21.com
as well as www.cibt.edu provide additional information to English speaking
students and corporations about CIBT's programs. CIBT is positioned to be
one of the first education providers in China to offer on-line certificate
and academic degrees. It is anticipated that the Chinese Education
Commission will rule to allow the granting of academic degrees on-line by
year 2001 and will make it compulsory that any Internet education company
that intends to grant academic degrees will have to provide a portion of
its instruction to its on-line students through traditional class-room
training. The vast majority of Internet-based training/education companies
do not have the on-site facilities in China to provide classroom training.
This anticipated requirement would give CIBT a significant advantage over
competitors hoping to enter this field in China.
On July 10, 2000, CIBT announced that a letter of intent had been signed
with Village III Acquisition Corp. ("VAC"), a private development stage
company in the U.S. Terms of the letter of intent state that by the closing
date, VAC, Jack Augsback & Company LLC or its agents are required to raise
a minimum of US$1-million (pre-IPO) in capital that will be invested in the
new company at a price not less than US$1.50 per share. In addition, this
group is also obligated to raise an additional US$2-million (or greater) at
a price not less than $3 (U.S.) per share.
Immediately following the merger with VAC, CPT and its affiliates will hold
a position of not less than 85 per cent of the issued and outstanding
capital stock of this new company. The total issued and outstanding shares
of the new company will be approximately 10.5 million shares. CPT and its
affiliates are expected to hold approximately nine million of these shares.
IRIX DESIGN GROUP INC. ("IRIX")
Business
On July 27, 2000, CPT announced that it has signed a letter of intent to
acquire 51% of IRIX Design Group Inc. ("IRIX"). IRIX is a profitable,
full-service multimedia and advertising agency. IRIX has offices in
Vancouver, B.C., San Francisco, CA and is in the process of opening an
office in Hong Kong. IRIX's design expertise allows it to mix the latest
online communication technologies with traditional methods to provide its
clients with cutting-edge brand recognition and implementation strategies
that span today's entire media universe. CPT and its subsidiaries have had
a continuing and mutually beneficial relationship with IRIX since that its
inception in 1996.
Client Base
IRIX has an extensive list of both new-media and traditional clients. This
list includes customers such as SelectQuote Insurance Service (America's #1
term life insurance company), MarkeTrade.com (a prominent NASD dealer based
in California) and the United Commercial Bank (USA). IRIX is also a
strategic partner and agent for Yahoo Asia. Examples of selected corporate
Internet sites designed by IRIX can be viewed at
irix-design.com.
IRIX will play an integral role in SEG's plans to aggressively market its
Global Financial Services platform and will significantly reduce its net
advertising costs. IRIX has demonstrated an impressive growth rate in both
revenues and profits. For the 12 months ending June 30, 2000, the combined
revenues from IRIX's Canadian and U.S. operations were $1.6 million with
approximately $400,000 in net income.
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