MBT International Enters Negotiations with Major Freight Transporter; Surpasses
AgriMall.com Development Projections
[Apologies to all, I didn't notice that this posted previously - too late to cancel]
COCHRANE, AB, Jan. 11 /CNW/ - MBT International, Inc. (OTCBB: MBTI),
parent company of AgriMall.com (www.agrimall.com), announced Friday that the
Company has entered into negotiations with a leading North American freight
transport company to develop a large storefront web presence on the
AgriMall.com site. Although specific terms of the proposed transaction were
not disclosed, the Company believes that it will receive a substantial
up-front payment for site creation, a monthly hosting fee and a percentage of
all transactions taking place on the site. It is anticipated that the deal
will close during January 1999.
Andy McKinnon, CEO of MBT International, stated ''We have been
aggressively marketing to new merchants for inclusion in our AgriMall.com. The
acceptance level for our service over the past month has been tremendous, far
surpassing initial projections. Agricultural merchants continually tell us
what a pleasure it is to offer goods and services in a virtual setting
dedicated to their industry.'' Based on recent results, the Company
anticipates that by year-end 1999, between 1,000 and 2,000 storefronts will be
conducting business at AgriMall.com.
The Company also announced that it is negotiating to acquire a
full-service Internet engineering and graphic design house. The target
acquisition, a leader in the field of digital 3D system applications, should
greatly enhance the graphics capabilities of the Company's web sites.
''With cutting edge Internet technology and 13 extremely talented
developer/programmers, this is a perfect fit for MBT International,'' added
McKinnon. ''We expect to close the acquisition within the next month.''
As previously announced, MBTI is in the final stages of acquiring
HorseNet.com (www.horsenet.com) and launching an online auction service with
nearly $100 million of inventory for sale. The combined value of present
listings in AgriMall.com and its companion portal, www.lifeathome.com, exceeds
$37 million, while the total value of listings since inception is over $60
million, with broker sales exceeding $16 million.
MBTI's strategy is to build very strong web portals such as AgriMall.com
to become a leader in the $300 billion agricultural industry. To accelerate
the process, MBTI is evaluating highly focused acquisitions that will further
increase both the traffic and volume of E-commerce at its AgriMall.com site.
MBTI applies technologies currently in use by online auction and marketing
houses such as eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY), Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) and uBid
(NASDAQ: UBID).
Certain statements in this release are forward looking. Although MBT
International, Inc. believes its expectations are based on reasonable
assumptions within the bounds of its knowledge of business and operations,
there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from
expectations. For factors that may cause actual results to differ materially
from expectations and underlying assumptions, see reports by the Company filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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For further information: Andy McKinnon, CEO (403) 932-1122 |
