MBTI moving up a little on more auction news.
Tuesday January 26, 12:44 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
MBT International Launches Online Auction -- Enters Negotiations to Acquire Three Leading Agricultural Websites
CASTLE ROCK, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 26, 1999--MBT International Inc. (OTCBB: MBTI - news), parent company of AgriMall.com, www.agrimall.com, HorseNet.com, www.horsenet.com, and lifeathome.com, www.lifeathome.com, announced today that the first phase of its online auction service is now open for demonstration and review at www.horsenet.com/mbti.
The online auction application is based on AuctionBarn(TM) technology perfected by AgriMall/HorseNet.
''Our online auction is completely functional,'' stated Andy McKinnon, CEO of MBTI. ''The company is presently gathering feedback from customers who will be using the service before actual transactions take place. This first site focuses exclusively on horses and brings the 15,000 animals in AgriMall/HorseNet's SaleBarn into play. Within ten days, our online equipment auction will be activated, raising our total online inventory to nearly $100 million.'' Utilizing this technology, MBTI anticipates generating a transaction fee of between two and fifteen percent, depending on the merchandise involved.
MBTI also announced that it has entered negotiations to acquire three leading agricultural and horse websites. Upon completion of the targeted acquisitions, anticipated within thirty to ninety days, Internet traffic at the AgriMall/HorseNet websites is expected to increase to 20 million hits per month, significantly expanding the company's advertising opportunities.
Mr. McKinnon commented further, ''Having evaluated the model popularized by e-commerce pioneers eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY - news) and Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN - news), we recognize the genius behind the theory that hits and site visits equal business. Our strategy is to capture a very substantial market, provide consumers a comfortable buying environment, and ultimately dominate the online agricultural industry.''
The combined value of present listings in the AgriMall.com, HorseNet.com and lifeathome.com portals exceeds $87 million, while the total value of listings since inception is over $110 million, with broker sales exceeding $16 million.
MBTI's strategy is to build very strong web portals such as AgriMall.com and 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, Amazon.com and uBid (Nasdaq: UBID - news). MBTI is positioning itself to file an application for listing on the Nasdaq Small Cap Market in the first half of 1999.
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 its business and operations, there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from its expectations. For factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations and underlying assumptions, see reports by MBT International filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Contact:
MBT International Inc., Castle Rock
Andy McKinnon, CEO, 403/932-1122 |
