Here is the news release out to day:
STOCKGROUP.COM
Company Contact Marcus New, Chairman & CEO
marcusn@stockgroup.com
(604) 331-0995
THE MWW GROUP Public Relations
Media Contact Matt Messinger (201) 964-2377
mmessing@mww.com
WHYTECLIFF CAPITAL CORP
Investor Relations Contact
Robert Cross rcross@mine-tech.com
Daniel Matthews dmatthews@mine-tech.com
(604) 331-8772
STOCKGROUP.COM IS ACQUIRED BY I-TECH HOLDINGS GROUP
Acquisition Forms Largest Investment Destination Site on
Internet for Micro- and Small-Cap Investors
VANCOUVER, British Columbia March 16, 1999 Stock Research Group Inc. (Stockgroup.com) and I-Tech Holdings Group, Inc. (OTC BB IHGP) are pleased to announce that they have completed an acquisition agreement resulting in the formation of one of the largest investment destination sites on the Internet, www.stockgroup.com, aimed at supplying financial information to micro- and small-cap stock investors.
Under the terms of the agreement, I-Tech, through a wholly owned British Columbia subsidiary has purchased all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Stockgroup.com, in consideration of the issuance by (1), I-Tech's subsidiary of 3,900,000 Class A exchangeable shares, and (2) I-Tech of 3,900,000 shares of Common Stock. The company will trade under ticker symbol “IHGP” and intends to change its name to Stockgroup.com, Inc. in the near future.
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As part of the acquisition, the current management team of Stockgroup.com will assume comparable roles in the combined company. This team includes Marcus New who is the founder, Chairman and CEO and Leslie Landes, COO.
Marcus New is an acknowledged authority on investing on the Internet. He has been an invited guest speaker to the New York Society of Security Analysts where his speech was transmitted on NBC's Private Financial Network, Florida Money Show, and Greenline Investor Conferences. He has also appeared on national television broadcasts including Investors On Line and Money Hunt. Mr. New is also a director for IRI Inc., the “for profit” company for the Investor Research Institute headquartered in New York.
Leslie Landes joined Stockgroup.com in August 1998 and brings a breadth of experience running media and media related companies, including 13 years with the Jim Pattison Group, Canada's third largest private company with sales in excess of $3 Billion and over 13,000 employees. Mr. Landes served as President of the Jim Pattison Sign Group, Outdoor Group, and The Communications Group, which included radio and television stations, and companies in publishing, outdoor advertising, sign manufacturing and leasing business. He ultimately served as President of Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. and Senior VP of the Jim Pattison Group where he successfully initiated and completed the acquisition of strategically important companies in a number of diverse industries. Most notably, under Mr. Landes' presidency, the Sign Group was built into one of the largest electronic sign companies in the world.
Commenting on the effect of the acquisition Mr. New stated, “With an estimated 12,000 small cap companies in North America, there is a demand for relevant, timely information and a significant opportunity to address the problem of how to find ‘diamonds in the rough' type companies. Recent studies by E*Trade Group,
Inc. (Nasdaq EGRP), state that there are over 10 million people who currently
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use the Internet to request stock prices. A national survey conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates on behalf of the Nasdaq Stock Market also reported that 37% of investors regularly use the Internet to access investment-related information. Through the Stockgroup.com brand, we see a niche-opportunity to provide Internet development, marketing and advertising services to a growing base of small cap public companies across North America.”
Mr. New continued, “The Company's goal is to be the world's largest supplier of financial information to micro- and small-cap investors by providing effective Internet marketing services to the sector*. We believe that significant growth can be achieved by further developing our service offerings, by leveraging the popularity of Internet investing among individuals and money managers and using our experience and leadership position in the industry to recruit more corporate advertising*.”
Mr. New cited the following as part of the Company's growth initiatives
1. Expand www.stockgroup.com to provide the ‘next generation' of investor research, news and market data, Internet services and features for its investor viewers in an effort toward defining the Stockgroup.com brand and building a larger and loyal viewer base*.
2. Leverage www.stockgroup.com's high level of viewer traffic and existing subscriber base of 27,000 readers to launch a paid subscription, on-line news service focused on small cap markets and investments*.
3. Add new branch network offices in the United States and Europe. The Company expects to open six new branches in 1999*. The expansion program will also provide the vast number of micro- and small-cap public companies with local access to its marketing and production professionals*.
4. Research acquisition and consolidation opportunities related to other financial Internet information providers*. ../4
Mr. New concluded, “We believe that over the next three years, these initiatives will increase traffic to over 2,000,000 viewers monthly and will expand our corporate advertising base significantly*.”
I-Tech is a Colorado Corporation engaged in providing consulting services related to the development of web sites for business and industry. The Company sees the acquisition of Stockgroup.com as a significant opportunity to expand its Internet services.
Stockgroup.com was founded in 1995 and has offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Canada and San Francisco, USA (April 1999). Stockgroup.com is recognized as a leading Internet supplier of financial information to small cap investors and has a well-established presence on the Web. The Company's main website, www.stockgroup.com, is one of the largest and most popular investment destination supersites on the Internet. Focusing on the needs of small cap investors, Stockgroup.com has developed its supersite into a community, which brings together small cap investors and companies to provide information on small cap market developments. This award winning investor information Community has gained a loyal following on the Internet and as of February 1999, over 150,000 investor viewers visit the Community each month. Stockgroup.com also produces The Small Cap Express, a free daily on-line investment market report, which is distributed, on an ‘as requested basis', via Email to a wide investor subscriber base across North America. Since its inception in July 1998, The Small Cap Express has grown from a subscriber base of zero to in excess of 27,000 daily readers.
In addition to its Internet Community, Stockgroup.com also specializes in providing public companies with Internet marketing solutions and has developed
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considerable expertise in the development of financial services products for investor relations websites for small cap public companies. Currently Stockgroup.com provides services to over 200 corporate clients. Stock Research Group Inc. has also used the trade names Stockgroup.com, Stockgroup, and Stockgroup Interactive Media.
Web professionals have recognized the level of excellence of Stockgroup.com's team across North America. Stockgroup.com has been covered in Barrons, Worth and Fortune and has received numerous awards and distinctions. These awards include being ranked as a Microsoft (Nasdaq MSFT) “Pick of the Week”; an Infoseek (Nasdaq SEEK) “Cool Site”; #1 investment site for a 17 month stretch on Lycos (Nasdaq LCOS) and currently has a ranking as #18 in InvestorLinks Top Sites ratings.
Contact Information
For more information and to schedule and interview, please contact the following
Stockgroup.com
1000-789 W. Pender St
Vancouver, BC
V6C 1H2
p. (604) 331 0995
f. (604) 331 1194
Contact Mr. Marcus New
ir@stockgroup.com
http//www.stockgroup.com
This release contains "forward looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21B of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, goals, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward looking statements." Forward looking statements are based on expectations, estimates and projections at the time the statements are made that involve a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those presently anticipated. The forward looking statements herein have been identified by placement of an asterisk at the end of the forward looking statement. |
