CXSN $5 stock with big news!
(COMTEX) B: (CXS.) Counsel Corporation Launches Major Telecommunicati
B: (CXS.) Counsel Corporation Launches Major Telecommunications Initiative,
Creating New Business Unit Focused On Internet Telephony and Other
Telecom-related Enterprises
TORONTO AND MOUNTAINSIDE, N.J., Feb 1, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
- Gary J. Wasserson, Formerly President and CEO of Call
Sciences/Virtel, Joins Counsel as Head of New Subsidiary, Counsel
Communications LLC -
- In First Investment Under New Initiative, Counsel Signs Letter
of Intent to Acquire 42% Stake in VoCall Communications Corp.-
Continuing the implementation of its strategy to broaden its
investment focus to include Internet- and other technology-based
companies, Counsel Corporation, of Toronto, Ontario (NASDAQ:CXSN)
(TSE:CXS.) ("Counsel" or the "Company") today announced that it has
formed a new, wholly-owned subsidiary that will acquire, consolidate,
and operate Internet telephony and other telecommunications-related
assets. The new business unit, which will be known as Counsel
Communications LLC, will be headed by Gary J. Wasserson as the unit's
Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Wasserson was most recently President and
CEO of Call Sciences(tm)/Virtel(tm), of Edison, New Jersey and Slough,
England, a major provider of enhanced telecommunications services
deliverable over global intelligent networks.
Counsel also announced that, under this new strategic initiative, it
has signed a letter of intent to acquire a 42% ownership interest in
VoCall Communications Corp., of Mountainside, New Jersey, a rapidly
growing facilities-based provider of global telecommunications services
such as prepaid calling card, cellular, paging and Internet telephony
services. Terms of the proposed VoCall transaction were not disclosed.
With 1999 sales of approximately US$52 million, VoCall, headed by
President and CEO Gary Frank, was among the top 20 companies (#17)
listed in October 1999 in Inc. magazine's Inc. 500 annual ranking of
the fastest-growing private companies in America.
Allan Silber, Chairman and CEO of Counsel Corporation, said: "Counsel
has a well-established track record of identifying and successfully
pursuing new areas for investment and value creation. Gary Wasserson
has years of successful senior management experience in the
telecommunications industry, most recently as head of Call
Science/Virtel, whose communications offerings are based on Bellcore's
leading-edge technology, and whose principal investor is The Chatterjee
Group, a Soros affiliate. VoCall recently began deploying a global,
next-generation Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone network
using Internet telephony as its telecommunications infrastructure. We
believe that together, the partnership and platform we are creating has
a unique opportunity to create a major revenue, earnings, growth and
value-creation engine."
Mr. Wasserson said: "The opportunity to join Counsel Corporation, and
to create the exciting new business enterprise we are announcing today,
is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity far too good to pass up. I am
tremendously pleased to join the Counsel team."
Frederick Voit, senior analyst with the Yankee Group, a premier Boston,
Massachusetts-based market research and consulting company, said: "As
one of the foremost independent prepaid calling card companies and a
company now making a major push into VoIP, VoCall is an ideal partner
for Counsel Corporation as it launches its own telecommunications
initiative. And industry veteran Gary Wasserson is an ideal choice to
lead the Counsel initiative."
The VoCall Investment Founded in 1990 and headquartered in
Mountainside, New Jersey, VoCall specializes in prepaid
telecommunications services such as prepaid calling card, cellular,
paging and Internet telephony services. In ranking VoCall #17 on the
1999 Inc. 500 list, Inc. magazine noted that the company's sales
increased by 6,132 percent from 1994 to 1998, to a 1998 level of
US$46.7 million. Year 2000 revenue is projected to reach over US$100
million. VoCall recently established strategic alliances with Lucent
Technologies/Ascent Communications and Winstar Communications Inc., to
provide VoCall with, respectively, the telecommunications equipment and
the network necessary to achieve its strategic objective of becoming
one of the first Internet telephony-based global carriers.
Mr. Silber said: "VoCall will be an ideal partner and platform for the
growth of our telecom business, based on its proven strategy, strong
retail distribution channels, rapidly growing volume of business, and
outstanding management team. That team, headed by Gary Frank, shares
our vision of the tremendous revenue, earnings and investment potential
that can be realized by enterprises that lead the buildout of a global
Voice over Internet Protocol network. We look forward to working
closely with Gary Frank and his colleagues at VoCall to establish such
a network, and to deploy over it-quickly, efficiently and
profitably-such leading-edge VoIP-based services as unified messaging
and unified communications portals."
VoCall, together with Winstar and Lucent, has agreed to build and
deploy a global virtual private network (VPN) that employs Internet
telephony as its telecommunications infrastructure. "WinStar
congratulates both VoCall and Counsel on their new alliance. As a
strategic network partner to VoCall, we are excited about the
opportunity that this announcement represents. The first phase of the
Internet telephony network implementation is already under way and is
scheduled for completion by June 2000. Our relationship with Lucent and
its resources gives us the ability to deliver global services and
support to VoCall," said Bob McGuire, President and Chief Operating
Officer of Winstar's Large Accounts organization.
Gary Frank, President and CEO of VoCall, said: "We are truly excited
that Counsel has decided to make such a significant investment in
VoCall, and are honored to be the first major investment under
Counsel's new telecommunications initiative. The combination of
Lucent's next-generation VoIP technology, Winstar's end-to-end local,
national and international broadband network, and now the financial and
managerial resources of Counsel, positions VoCall as the next major
player in the Internet telephony space. It also gives us the ability to
accelerate our plans to implement a next-generation Global VoIP
network. We look forward to working with the Counsel team and to
playing a key role in the success of this major telecommunications
initiative."
In addition to the alliances with Lucent and Winstar, other recent
developments at VoCall include the company's selection as the exclusive
prepaid phone card provider for Conoco Oil, Inc., a partnership with
the three-million-member National Wildlife Federation to provide the
public with American Endangered Species phone cards, and the naming of
VoCall President and CEO Gary Frank as 1999 Chairman of the
International Telecard Association, America's leading prepaid
telecommunications trade association.
On November 1, 1999, Counsel Corporation announced that its Board of
Directors and management had determined that they could best build
value for its shareholders by exploring new areas for investment and
growth in addition to the Company's core pharmaceutical assets. The
Internet and other technology-based enterprises were identified as
areas that are strategically aligned with Counsel's overall philosophy.
Since that time, investments by Counsel in addition to the VoCall
investment announced today have included the following:
- a 40% stake in Proscape Technologies, Inc. (www.proscape.com), of
Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, a leading provider of innovative
business-to-business fact-based sales and marketing information
software systems to Fortune 1000 companies.
- a 33% stake in Impower, Inc. (www.impower.net), of Princeton, New
Jersey, whose principal business unit, Impower.net, is an
emerging leader in the rapidly growing area of transaction-based
Internet direct marketing.
- a 3.6% stake in Delano Technology Corporation
(www.delanotech.com), of Richmond Hill, Ontario, a provider of
interactive-based e-business communication solutions. Delano
markets innovative software that enables companies to automate,
personalize and manage ongoing interactions with customers,
partners, suppliers and employees.
- a 4.6% stake (1.5 million shares) in Hip Interactive Corp.
(www.hipinteractive.com), of Toronto, Ontario, (CVX: HIPI), a
fully integrated name brand e-commerce business selling consumer
PC software and video games.
Mr. Silber said: "This is an exciting time at Counsel Corporation. We
have broadened our investment focus in leading-edge companies that are
defining the future of business, e-commerce and, now,
telecommunications. We are also broadening our own business activities
and investment portfolio well beyond our roots in the healthcare
industry, by leveraging our own in-house strategic, financial and
marketing expertise. In so-doing, we are creating what we believe is a
solid foundation on which to build shareholder value."
This release involves forward-looking statements with respect to
business plans and expectations of Counsel Corporation and VoCall
Communications Corp. The accuracy of these statements involves a number
of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, changes in
economic and market conditions, financing, changes in governmental
regulations and laws as well as other risk factors detailed in
Counsel's securities filings, to which recipients of this release are
referred for additional information.
Copyright (C) 2000 Business Wire. All rights reserved.
Distributed via COMTEX.
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CONTACT: Counsel Corporation
Susan Feldman or Stephen Weintraub, 416/866-3000
or
Kekst and Company
Roy Winnick, 416/866-3100 x1000 or 212-521-4842
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