News
Thursday January 11, 9:16 am Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: EZENET Corp.
EZENET to Acquire Fitech Inc.
Acquisition expands EZENET's product offerings to include financial planning and sales technologies
TORONTO, Jan. 11 /CNW/ - EZENET Corp. (TSE:EZE - news), a leading developer of wealth management solutions for the financial services industry, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire privately-held Fitech Inc., a profitable, Toronto-based developer of web-based financial planning software.
This acquisition will immediately broaden EZENET's suite of financial service offerings to include financial planning, budgeting and sales technologies. Fitech's solutions will dramatically shorten time to market for EZENET's Personal Financial Portal. The portal will allow clients of financial institutions to view the real time status of their investments within the sponsoring institution and aggregated from external institutions where they have account relationships.
By deploying EZENET's Personal Financial Portal, customers of financial institutions can compare their portfolio with their unique financial plan that has been developed using Fitech's systems. The holdings within the customer's portfolio can then be easily adjusted to ensure that their personal financial plan objectives can still be met as market conditions change.
"The clients of North American financial institutions want real time, integrated solutions to plan and track their finances," said Jay Cashmore, President and CEO of EZENET Corp. "This acquisition will be immediately accretive and once completed, EZENET will have the technology to enable financial institutions to offer this integrated solution to their customers. As a result, financial institutions can expect higher levels of customer satisfaction, loyalty and increased fee-based revenues."
The purchase price consists of a payment of $2.75 million and 300,000 of EZENET common shares subject to trading restrictions that expire at various stages over a 24-month period. Fitech Inc. is debt-free and has been profitable since 1995 due to its gross profit margins and low overheads. Fitech's web-enabled financial planning tools are currently deployed in a number of Canada's largest financial institutions. Mr. Larry Lubin, President and CEO of Fitech Inc. will be joining EZENET as Vice President, Financial Planning and Sales Technology.
"The financial solutions provided by Fitech and EZENET are very complementary," stated Larry Lubin. "Fitech is a proven entity in the area of web-enabled financial planning and EZENET is a leader in the development of wealth management solutions. Together this powerful combination of solutions will connect financial service providers to their customers, enabling them to make better informed financial decisions."
The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed in February 2001.
About EZENET:
EZENET Corp., a leading provider of software solutions for the banking and financial services industry, is poised to achieve its growth objectives through aggressive internal development and synergistic acquisitions. EZENET's solutions are deployed in over 70 financial institutions, including all of Canada's largest banks, and a number of securities dealers, trust and insurance companies, and mortgage lenders. With more than twenty years experience building financial software applications, wealth management solutions, secure on-line banking and e-commerce systems, EZENET has developed a full range of solutions across the new generation of Internet and wireless- enabled devices. Further information may be found at ezenet.com.
About Fitech:
Fitech Inc. is a privately owned Toronto-based financial solutions company. Since 1995, Fitech has been successfully helping leading Canadian financial institutions to formulate financial product sales strategies and develop, integrate and implement new technologies. Fitech successfully delivers the business advantages that clients require.
The Toronto Stock Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved of the information contained herein.
For further information
For investor relations contact: Gary Perkins, Surefund Capital Corp., Tel: (905) 889-1711, Toll Free: 1-800-225-2744, ir@ezenet.com
For media relations contact: John Perenack, Cohn & Wolfe, Tel: (416) 924-5700 x 4074, john_perenack@ca.cohnwolfe.com |
