Subject: ZULU-tek (NETZ, formerly Netmaster Group)
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You are responding to this message from JAC on Mar 24 1998 9:20AM EST
Good Morning to all :)
>>>I am still a little confused as to the nature of ZULU before it joined with SIM.<<<
The company started off as a shell OTC company named Star Medical. The name was changed to Netmaster, and it began acquiring companies. (some old hands should help on this) Foremost was the acquisition of EchoMedia, which had developed movie-quality internet technology intended for e-commerce. EchoMedia also had an award-winning product called SesameAd.
In early December, the name was changed from Netmaster Group to Zulu-tek. In my opinion, a brilliant and considerably more futuristic name.
There were other deals, such as the one with Ozemail, but the biggest fish of all was NETZ buying Softbank Interactive Marketing, which came on board December 31, 1997. This opened eyes in the industry, since the advertising technology was now married to a plan to market same (this was SIM's specialty). SIM also came with a lot of revenues, leading to the Doubleclick piggyback press release claiming NETZ has better revenues than Doubleclick (DCLK). Of course, DCLK was IPO'd and trading in the 30's, while NETZ was still a penny stock. That's when everything got crazy.
Then came the Wired articles--what spawned these is anybody's guess--which heaped all kinds of negativity on one of the venture capitalists behind NETZ. To me, for something so public, it really looked like a personal pee match. But I guess we're all still wondering about this.
The articles put NETZ on the radar screen, especially when compared to DCLK. This is when everyone began demanding a fully auditied financial statement from NETZ. A laudable cry, I might add. We're still waiting, and they're due soon according to a spokesman for the company, and also from the most recent filing where it states such a report will be completed within 45 days--(this started a little over a week ago).
Next, Zulu and ESVS made a deal. Zulu wants onto Nasdaq, and ESVS was in danger of losing its Nasdaq trading status due to new Nasdaq rules. So now Zulu and ESVS are married to a 50 million dollar private placement. With ESVS, comes two new components, a computer laptops specialty service, and NB Digital, which has been doing work along the lines of EchoMedia.
It's speculated that ESVS and Zulu will eventually become one company. For for now, they're operating as two companies with each holding interest in the other. Meanwhile, the components of these two companies will be working together under the leadership team of Steve Lair who has a heavy--I repeat heavy--background with Texas Instruments and Acer Corp.
Why is a man of this heavy-corporate stature now heading a little potato company like Zulu-tek? To me, this gives the best hint of all: Big bucks in movie-quality internet advertising.
Oh, I left out Autotrack. Zulu-tek has a plan--maybe on the back burner right now, given the emergence of ESVS components--to incorporate audtomobile advertising with the latest in computerized technology. This could be a bonus.
In conclusion, yes NETZ is a crap shoot. It's a penny stock and has all the baggage that comes with same. But the technology is promising, the leadership team is superb and, in the course of history, the timing is right. The downside remains the questions concerning one of the investors and the absence of reliable financial data.
How to play it? I'd say give it a modest investment if you're not in yet. If you're holding, hang on. When you sense there will be movement and stability, that's the time to increase your holding.
Will it work? Maybe. But the prospects are a hell of a lot brighter then the viewpoints that you hear hailing from the domain of Naysayerism.
I hope this answers some of your concerns. I'm sure others have more to add. Good luck! |
