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Technology Stocks : PSIX up 26.5%, Takeover(?) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MangoBoy who wrote (4732)	10/19/1999 10:05:00 AM
From: JustMy2Cents	Respond to of 5650

CNS PSINet: Internet Super Carrier Oct 19 1999 10:00 E-Commerce Hosting Centers in 15 Countries on Four Continents Connected by a 3.2 Terabit Network NEW YORK, Oct. 19 /CNW/ - PSINet Inc. (Nasdaq: PSIX), the first and largest independent facilities based commercial Internet Service Provider (ISP), today outlined its strategic direction for the 21st century and announced major new agreements that position the company as an Internet Super Carrier (ISC). Elements of an ISC include: - E-Commerce Web Hosting Centers -- 20 centers with 1.5 million square feet of revenue producing space in key financial and business centers including New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Toronto, Tokyo, Sao Paolo, Hong Kong. - Extensive global distribution supported by 1,000 sales personnel, 2,500 value added resellers (VARs), systems integrators and Web design professionals. - One global brand name recognized for the services and applications important to customers, supported by local language sales, provisioning and service. - Worldwide fiber networks and optronic equipment, company owned and operated, capable of three terabits per second speeds and above. ''In 2000 and beyond, an ISC will combine all of these elements and more to achieve high customer retention rates and strong margins in a non-regulated, non-monopolized Internet era,'' said PSINet chairman and CEO William L. Schrader. ''The series of announcements being made here today serves as a fundamental component of our strategy to construct a leading global Internet Super Carrier, with the optimal infrastructure for E-Commerce transactions supported by PSINet owned and operated fiber, hosting centers, and expert staff, covering nearly 80% of the world's economic base. The plan involves a multi-year, multi-billion dollar expansion of our infrastructure, setting the standard for 21st century telecommunications, which itself may become the largest sector of the global economy.'' Investment Disclosures: - Reaffirming an earlier commitment, PSINet will build a record 21+ global hosting centers worldwide by the end of 2000, with plans for more than 60. As part of this plan, Schrader disclosed the opening of a new state-of-the-art hosting center at 33 Whitehall St. in lower Manhattan. The center houses a POP on PSINet's fiber, customer web hosting and collocation facilities, and a network operations center. - To support New York traffic, PSINet noted it has signed an agreement, subject to regulatory approval, for a major Manhattan supplier to provide, among other services, Symmetrical Digital Subscriber Loop (SDSL) high speed, local transmission services in New York City. The service will be provided on a PSINet-dedicated and controlled network connecting company customers to the 33 Whitehall St. POP. The local loop network will consist of an 11 node OC-48 SONET ring in Manhattan covering multiple central offices serving prime New York business customers. Approval is anticipated in the fourth quarter of 1999. - An agreement was also announced in which PSINet acquired 16 dark fibers across the U.S. from IXC Communications (Nasdaq: IIXC). The initial optronic equipment to light 4 dark fibers, which are currently available, begins immediately and is expected to be completed late in 2000. The first 4-fiber system covers 13,900 route miles and the entire continental U.S. Concurrent with this transaction, a significant partnership agreement was also disclosed for the purchase of optronics from Nortel Networks (NYSE: NT) -- to light the fiber with Dense Wave Division Multiplexing technology, providing over a terabit per second of capacity on each pair. - Schrader additionally announced the proposed purchase of two diversely routed fiber pairs on the FA-1 transatlantic cable system with a design capacity of at least 800 Gigabits per second, with the initial lighting at 40 Gigabits. The route is composed of ten segments connecting New York, Paris and London. FA-1 is scheduled for activation in the first quarter of 2001. PSINet's US and European dark fiber networks, connected by the Atlantic fiber, are the largest such infrastructure deployments dedicated to IP services on their respective continents. - PSINet further revealed it has completed an agreement with Loral Orion, Inc., a Loral Space & Communications Company (NYSE: LOR), under which it has purchased satellite transponder and earth station equipment for implementation of PSINet's facilities based Latin American network. This transaction permits PSINet to link its operations in Brazil, Latin America's Southern Cone and, in the future, South Africa, directly into PSINet's existing fiber network. The agreement also includes portability rights allowing PSINet to re-allocate capacity to other regions such as Eastern Europe, India, the Middle East and Africa as PSINet develops these markets. - PSINet also disclosed that it has filed for a license in Hong Kong for the right to terminate a 320 Gigabit per second submarine cable system connecting Hong Kong and Japan. PSINet owns a 20% interest in the submarine cable consortium with activation expected in the second quarter of 2001. The company plans to interconnect this system with its previously announced ownership in the Japan-U.S. cable system connecting Japan and the United States. - PSINet also unveiled today a new Internet universal transit product that connects all countries' IP traffic with each other for a single price. It has global routing characteristics, a significant technological advantage over competitors such as MCI WorldCom, Cable and Wireless and Sprint. ''The operational features and infrastructure for tomorrow's communications networks are being determined now,'' Schrader added. ''The model put forth today will set the pace for all other communications providers to follow under what is clearly a global IP protocol.'' More information on IXC can be found at www.ixc-comm.com; Nortel at www.nortelnetworks.com; FA-1 at www.flagatlantic.com; and Loral Orion at www.loralorion.com. Headquartered in Herndon, VA, PSINet is an Internet Super Carrier offering full suite of retail and wholesale Internet services through wholly-owned PSINet subsidiaries. Services are provided on PSINet-owned and operated fiber, satellite, Web hosting and switching facilities providing direct access in more than 800 metropolitan areas in 21 countries on five continents. PSINet information can be obtained by e-mail at info(at)psi.com, by accessing the Web site at psinet.com or by calling in the U.S. 800-799-0676. /Web site: ixc-comm.com /Web site: nortelnetworks.com /Web site: flagatlantic.com /Web site: loralorion.com /Web site: psinet.com

To: MangoBoy who wrote (4732)	10/19/1999 10:08:00 AM
From: JustMy2Cents	Respond to of 5650

You are correct regarding IIXC

To: MangoBoy who wrote (4732)	10/23/1999 11:31:00 PM
From: JustMy2Cents	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5650

Consolidation Activity Slows Among IT Services Companies; De Bellas & Co. Reports 334 Mergers and Acquisitions Since January October 21, 1999 01:14 PM Eastern Time HOUSTON, Oct. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Statistics from De Bellas & Co., a leading specialty investment banking firm, indicate that 334 of the nation's information technology (IT) services businesses were sold or merged in the first nine months of this year. By contrast, in the first three quarters of 1998, business combinations were reported by 402 IT Services companies, making this industry one of the most rapidly consolidating segments of the domestic economy. In the recent July-September quarter, 71 mergers and acquisitions (M&A) were announced by 52 buyers, which compares to 124 transactions completed by 92 buyers during the same period in 1998. De Bellas & Co. defines a "transaction" as a completed merger or acquisition or a significant equity investment. The firm's statistics include domestic as well as cross-border agreements involving U.S.-based participants. De Bellas & Co. monitors nationwide consolidation activity to support its investment-banking specialty as an advisor in all facets of M&A for IT clients. The firm tracks business combinations across a wide range of IT Services, including staff augmentation, systems integration, ERP providers, network design, Web development, applications development, and e-commerce, Internet and IT solutions providers. "After a couple of years of consolidating at break-neck speed, mergers in the IT Services arena have slowed considerably," says Bill Graves, managing director of De Bellas & Co. The slowdown in this sector coincides with a general decrease in M&A activity across the overall domestic economy. According to Thompson Financial Data Services, $322 billion in domestic M&A transactions were announced in the third quarter of 1999. This performance marks the lowest level of U.S. M&A activity since the first quarter of 1998, when volume was approximately $263 billion. "Still, our ongoing research shows that prospective buyers remain very interested in finding good candidates for acquisition," says Mr. Graves. "In other words, the number of buyers in the market is high." The number of companies completing transactions involving IT Services firms climbed from 182 in the first nine months of 1998 to 189 in the same period of this year. The most popular targets for acquisition in 1999, as in 1998, have been IT solutions firms. However, Internet services providers, or ISPs, have also shown strong appeal in 1999, according to the De Bellas & Co. statistics. "The buyer pool in IT Services is vast and rapidly changing," explains Kelly Southwell, a managing director at De Bellas & Co. "Three of the top five buyers in this year were not among the top five in the first nine months of last year." "Also, we can see that the most active buyers are being more selective and making fewer acquisitions in general," adds Ms. Southwell. "The five most aggressive consolidators in the first nine months of 1998 averaged 13.2 acquisitions each, whereas the top five buyers in the first nine months of 1999 are averaging just 10.6 transactions per buyer." The newest and most active buyers in 1999 have shown an appetite for solutions firms, according to De Bellas & Co. "The popularity of IT staff-augmentation firms, which supply technical personnel on an as needed basis, has declined," explains Ms. Southwell. "New buyers tend to be shopping for solutions providers, consulting firms that take on longer-term, multifaceted IT and Internet projects." In the third quarter of 1999, 9 of the 71 (12.7 percent) acquired companies were IT staffing firms. A year ago, 31 of 147 acquisitions (21.1 percent) involved staffing businesses. Among the other information released by De Bellas & Co.: -- The top five acquirers in 1999 have been PSINet (Nasdaq: PSIX), IBS Interactive, Inc. (Nasdaq: IBSX), Ciber, Inc. (NYSE: CBR), RCM Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: RCMT) and USWeb/CKS (Nasdaq: USWB). -- The combined liquidity (cash + available credit) of the top five buyers increased to an estimated $1.032 billion at June 30, 1999, from $736.8 million at the close of 1998. -- With privately owned buyers making 25 percent of the IT Services acquisitions in 1999, their prominence in the marketplace has increased considerably in the past two years. -- In the first nine months of 1999, 20.2 percent of M&A activity in the IT Services sector involved U.S. buyers in cross-border transactions. Last year during the same period, only 15 percent of transactions were cross-border. De Bellas & Co. serves as an investment banking advisor exclusively to the middle market, serving the I.T. market through its IT Services Group. For more information see www.debellas-IT.com. U.S. IT SERVICES INDUSTRY Merger & Acquisition Activity YTD YTD 3rd Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 1st Qtr. 9/30/99 9/30/98 1999 1999 1999 Transactions: Disclosed/Completed Transactions 334 402 71 124 139 Buyers 189 182 52 92 89 Transactions/Buyers 1.8 2.2 1.4 1.3 1.6 Median Rev. of Seller (millions) 12.0 9.0 12.0 13.4 12.0 Mix: IT Solutions 47.3% 50.0% 43.7% 42.7% 53.2% IT Staffing 9.3% 19.9% 12.7% 10.5% 6.5% Internet Solutions 13.2% 13.2% 16.9% 11.3% 12.9% Internet Service Providers 27.2% 14.7% 22.5% 30.6% 26.6% Other IT Services 3.0% 2.2% 4.2% 4.8% 0.7% Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Geographics: Domestic 79.6% 84.8% 77.5% 83.1% 77.7% Cross Border 20.4% 15.2% 22.5% 16.9% 22.3% Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Ownership: Public 74.9% 83.6% 77.5% 69.4% 78.4% Private 25.1% 16.4% 22.5% 30.6% 21.6% Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% U.S. IT SERVICES INDUSTRY Merger & Acquisition Activity Twelve Months 4th Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 1st Qtr. 1998 1998 1998 1998 1998 Transactions: Disclosed/Completed Transactions 503 101 147 139 116 Buyers 204 71 96 85 77 Transactions/Buyers 2.5 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.5 Median Rev. of Seller (millions) 10.0 14.5 8.0 9.8 9.5 Mix: IT Solutions 51.9% 57.4% 44.2% 56.1% 50.0% IT Staffing 20.1% 22.8% 21.1% 15.8% 23.3% Internet Solutions 12.7% 10.9% 16.3% 12.2% 10.3% Internet Service Providers 13.3% 7.9% 16.3% 12.2% 15.5% Other IT Services 2.0% 1.0% 2.0% 3.6% 0.9% Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Geographics: Domestic 83.7% 79.2% 83.1% 85.6% 86.2% Cross Border 16.3% 20.8% 16.9% 14.4% 13.8% Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Ownership: Public 84.1% 86.1% 76.9% 86.3% 88.8% Private 15.9% 13.9% 23.1% 13.7% 11.2% Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Source: De Bellas & Co., SEC filings, Global IT Consulting Report and IT Services Business Report SOURCE De Bellas & Co.