NEWS>>NEW!!!!
Premiere Technologies Announces $500,000,000 Appreciation on First of Five PTEKVentures.com Portfolio Partnerships
WebMD-Healtheon Merger Increases Pre-Sold Physician Subscriptions to 11 Million Months, Boosting Orchestrate® Revenue Potential
ATLANTA, May 21, 1999, 2:00 PM - Premiere Technologies (NASDAQ:PTEK) today announced the current value of its partnership stake in WebMD, assuming completion of the merger with Healtheon, at half a billion dollars or approximately $10 per PTEK share. Premiere's equity in WebMD would convert to approximately 5.2 million shares of Healtheon/WebMD, including 422,000 shares held in an employee incentive pool. These shares were acquired as part of Premiere Technologies' strategic investment and partnership arm, PTEKVentures.com.
The merger between the two Internet healthcare companies provides a major sales opportunity for Premiere's Orchestate™ product, which is included in WebMD's physician subscription offering. Previously announced long-term deals between WebMD with DuPont and Microsoft call for 11 million months of physician subscription commitments. Orchestrate is the Web-based communications solution that links voice messaging, e-mail, fax and conferencing with access through the Internet or the telephone. Premiere expects to receive as much as $15 per month in fees and usage revenue for each of the converted physician subscriptions.
"This is the beginning of a great run for PTEKVentures.com," said Boland T. Jones, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Premiere Technologies. "Our portfolio strategy 'powered by Orchestrate' is starting to pay off in multiple ways. Not only are the investments generating incredible returns, they are giving Orchestate the distribution it needs to dominate the Web-based communications category."
About Premiere Technologies
Atlanta-based Premiere Technologies, Inc. provides innovative solutions to simplify communications by combining the power of the Internet with the reach of the telephone.
# # # |
