MOU HA HA HA HA-ZSUN: LEADING ONLINE INVESTMENT TRAINING CO. ACQUIRED BY ZIASUN TECHNOLOGIES
Business Editors
SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 8, 1999--Online Investors
Advantage Inc. (http://www.i-advantage.com) is pleased to announce
that it has been acquired as a subsidiary by ZiaSun Technologies Inc.
(OTC BB: ZSUN, ziasun.com)
ZiaSun is a holding company focused on acquiring profitable,
Internet and Internet-related companies with strong growth potential.
Unlike many Internet companies, ZiaSun does not derive revenue from
any single product or service. Instead, ZiaSun's wholly owned
subsidiaries publish, market and service many Web products and
services, and maintain the necessary value added support for these
products. Any of ZiaSun's Internet products could be a stand-alone
company. This creates a package of Web products that brings internal
synergy and cross-fertilization of the group, while avoiding the
competitive risk that comes with reliance on a single product or
service.
Online Investors Advantage (OIA) is the leading U.S.-based
company specializing in online stock education and training. OIA
teaches investors who wish to trade securities by computer, how to
access and use the tools available on the Internet for optimum
investing results.
OIA was developed to fulfill a growing need in the marketplace
for a sophisticated education and training program for the many
thousands of people migrating to online stock investment.
According to a recent article published in U.S.A. Today (April
6/99), online brokerages register 440,000 to 460,000 trades a day, and
have been steadily stealing market share from traditional full-service
brokers. The article also sites from a report by Credit Suisse First
Boston analyst Bill Burnham saying online trading volume rose 30% to
35% the first quarter compared with 4.9% for all trading.
"OIA didn't start the online investing trend, nor are we driving
it," explains President of Online Investors Advantage, Mr. Scott
Elder. "People are rushing online to trade stocks like millions of
children on a hot summer day jumping into the deep end of a swimming
pool. If they can't swim, they're going to lose their lives. Likewise,
if someone doesn't know the formula and strategies for trading stocks,
they' re going to lose a lot of money in the stock market. We're just
standing on the edge of the online trading pool, saying, hey, before
you jump in, you really should consider taking our online trading
swimming lessons. We're getting them before they take the plunge into
the pool and also after they've taken the plunge and realize the cost
for our education is a lot less than what it's costing them to learn
it through bad trading experiences."
As a subsidiary of ZiaSun, OIA will become an integral part of
ZiaSun's infrastructure overseas, working in conjunction with its
established subsidiaries.
"OIA's most obvious fit, initially, is with ZiaSun's online stock
trading system, SWIFTrade, which is currently bringing London and Hong
Kong online," says Mr Elder. "This expedites our rate of growth well
beyond what we could have accomplished in the U.S. alone. ZiaSun has a
powerful synergy amongst its subsidiaries, a synergy that will most
benefit our company. We were approached by several leading Internet
companies, but we have great confidence in the ZiaSun strategy. We
believe that it's the next CMGI (Nasdaq:CMGI), but with an
International presence, where the most growth potential for Internet
products and services exists."
OIA is growing at an exponential rate, and is projecting 1999
revenues of $15,000,000 with $2,500,000 in earnings. Total revenue for
the company's first year of operation in 1998 was $3,394,503 with a
profit of $153,070. First quarter results for 1999 produced revenues
of $4,440,451, with earnings of $878,805.
Note: Any statements released by ZiaSun Technologies Inc. that
are forward-looking are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Editors and
investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements invoke risk
and uncertainties that may affect the company's business prospects and
performance. These include economic, competitive, governmental,
technological and other factors discussed in the statements.
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