STOCKGROUP DEVELOPS JOINT VENTURE TO BUILD
ENTERPRISE FINANCIAL SITES THROUGHOUT ASIA
Ownership interest starts global expansion
New York, NY January 18, 2000 Stockgroup.com Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: SWEB)
announced today that it has entered into a joint venture with two leading
Singapore publicly listed companies. Stockgroup has signed a contract that
will expand its operation into Asia, building an enterprise financial site
for Asian Exchange Information Service Ptd Ltd. (AsiaXIS). Under the terms
of the agreement Stockgroup will receive US$1,060,000 dollars for the
license and development of the initial site in Singapore and an equity
position of 19.4% in the venture.
The agreement also provides for AsiaXIS to develop 13 additional financial
enterprise sites throughout Asia and in Australia and New
Zealand. Stockgroup will be paid a licensing fee for its technology, a
development fee for building and customizing each additional financial
enterprise site, ongoing maintenance and support fees and receive royalties
for each of the markets that AsiaXIS enters. Stockgroup has also secured
access to the content that will be created by AsiaXIS in its international
news development.
AsiaXIS is an online provider of financial information covering stock
markets across Asia, which has been formed by a joint partnership of Form
Holdings Limited, a Singapore listed company (FORM.SP - Bloomberg) and SMB
United Ltd., a Singapore listed company (SMBU.SI) and Stockgroup.com
Holdings Inc. AsiaXIS's first Web site will be dedicated to the coverage of
the Stock Exchange of Singapore. Over the course of the next 18 months,
AsiaXIS will set up a string of Web sites dedicated to coverage of other
major stock markets such as Hong Kong, Taipei and Tokyo.
"We were delighted to enter into this agreement with our new partners in
Singapore," says Marcus New, CEO of Stockgroup.com Holdings Inc. "We have
been impressed by their understanding of the uniqueness of the Asian
financial markets and their plans to become the leading online financial
news and information provider in Asia. Expansion into Asia by building a
financial enterprise site which utilizes our proprietary technology and
established infrastructure fits well into Stockgroup's international
expansion plans. This joint venture will not only provide the Company with
substantial revenue and an equity position in AsiaXIS, but also gives
Stockgroup a foothold in the expanding Asian market. This contract proves
out our strategy for international expansion and we are presently pursuing
other expansion opportunities," concluded Mr. New.
Stockgroup has developed a proprietary technology infrastructure for the
development of enterprise financial sites. The infrastructure serves as a
template with all necessary components for a financial site. The
technology has been built to deliver site speed and reliability, runs on an
enterprise class server and is designed to be scaled to any size user base.
The functionality of the Singapore site will be based on Stockgroup's
leading small and micro cap news and information Community,
www.smallcapcenter.com. AsiaXIS's site will include proprietary features
currently in use by Stockgroup, such as raw data feed filters and
interfaces, database features, dynamic data presentation elements, content
presentation and archiving features, an advanced navigation structure,
comprehensive research tools, message boards, portfolio manager and an
e-commerce transaction structure. The project includes Stockgroup training
an AsiaXIS team in Singapore to manage and maintain their new site.
Commenting on the joint venture Mr. George Thia, Chairman of Form holdings
Ltd and AsiaXIS said, "The major exchanges in Asia are already reviewing
de-regulation of the market structure to accommodate the wave of demand for
access to online trading. The Singapore Authorities has been amongst the
first to announce the de-regulation of their financial market. AsiaXIS is
positioned to meet the growing demand for quick access to real time
information."
Joint partner Mr. Tan Ngiap Hong, CFO of SMB United said, "Stockgroup's
technology and infrastructure give AsiaXIS the ability to make a quick
entry into a fast growing market using mature delivery technology. The Web
sites set up by AsiaXIS will be up and running in a matter of months and
should start generating revenue shortly thereafter. SMB United Limited has
been looking actively to invest specifically in high growth technology
intensive businesses as part of its long-term diversification strategy."
ABOUT STOCKGROUP.COM
Stockgroup.com, founded in 1995, has offices in New York, San Francisco,
Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto and is a leading Internet provider of
financial news and information services. Recently, Stockgroup.com launched
its next generation Web site www.smallcapcenter.com, a state of the art
research center focusing on small cap and micro cap news, information and
data. Its predecessor, www.stockgroup.com, was one of the most popular
investment information sites on the Internet. The company also provides
Internet development and marketing services to small cap and micro cap
businesses.
ABOUT AsiaXIS
AsiaXIS is an online provider of financial information on stock markets
across Asia. AsiaXIS's charter will develop a string of Internet Web sites
dedicated to providing information on each of the equity stock exchanges
throughout Asia and in Australia and New Zealand. The Company was formed
through a joint partnership of Form Holdings Ltd., SMB United Limited and
Stockgroup.com Holdings Inc. Both Form Holdings Ltd. and SMB United are
publicly traded on the Singapore Stock Exchange. SMB United Limited has
annual sales in excess of S$77 million and net income in excess of S$8.2MM.
This is their second investment in an Internet company in the past two
months. Form Holdings was recently acquired by George Thia, the former
managing director for Merrill Lynch International Bank Ltd. (SEA). Form is
now diversifying into financial information companies.
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. Forward looking
statements in this action may be identified through the use of words such
as "expects", "will," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," or statements
indicating certain actions "may," "could," or "might" occur. |
