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Technology Stocks : Premiere Technologies (PTEK) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peach who wrote (1224)	4/6/2000 1:30:00 PM
From: Captain Jack	Respond to of 1270

Thought we would get more from it,, PTEK Holdings Launches Internet Investment Unit PTEKVentures Secures $125 Million Initial Commitment ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 6, 2000--PTEK Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:PTEK - news; www.ptek.com) announced today that it has formalized its venture unit with a $125 million commitment to PTEKVentures, (www.ptekventures.com) designed to significantly grow its network of leading Internet companies. PTEK also announced the appointment of Tim Mann as Managing Director of PTEKVentures. PTEK Holdings intends to fund its commitment primarily from operating cash flow and sales of securities in its portfolio companies. PTEKVentures' strategy is to create a network, primarily focused in the Southeastern United States, of leading B2B Internet infrastructure service providers and market makers that complement the operating units within PTEK Holdings' network. To date, PTEKVentures has equity investments in Healtheon/WebMD (Nasdaq:HLTH - news), S1 Corporation (Nasdaq:SONE - news), USA.NET, Webforia, Derivion, i2Go and BuyTrek. The growth of investments under the management of PTEKVentures is an integral part of PTEK Holdings' strategy to offer industry leading solutions to business customers of its operating units while using technology exchange, co-marketing and other partnering activities to support and complement each company within its network. In the fourth quarter of 1999, PTEKVentures reported a gain of $152 million from sales of a portion of its portfolio, funding the elimination of $143 million of PTEK Holdings debt and contributing to a record $1.23 basic earnings per share for the quarter. The benefits of PTEK Holdings opervesting model were also reflected as cost-cutting initiatives announced at the end of the third quarter were implemented in the fourth quarter, boosting EBITDA by 41%. ``Our ability to successfully create value through PTEKVentures has generated a tremendous amount of name recognition, and with that awareness comes an overwhelming number of venture opportunities,' said Boland T. Jones, Founder, Chairman and CEO of PTEK Holdings and Chairman of PTEKVentures. ``We will continue to identify and invest in promising Internet companies with the greatest potential to add value to our network. We intend to use this initial $125 million to build the leading network of Internet companies in the Southeast.' Tim Mann serves as Managing Director of PTEKVentures. Mann joined PTEKVentures from his previous position as the CEO and a Director of Acsys, Inc., a leading provider of accounting and finance and information staffing and consulting services. Prior to Acsys, Mann was a corporate finance attorney at Alston and Bird, LLP in Atlanta. In addition, Don Gasgarth and Jeff Zwitter, with more than 20 years of experience in capital markets, will serve as Managing Partners, with analysts to support them. ``One of PTEKVentures' strengths is to serve as a mentor and strategic advisor to the start-up companies in our network, to help guide them in their business planning process and to provide them with cross marketing and networking opportunities, in addition to investing capital,' said Tim Mann. ``We plan to add to the services we offer our network affiliates to include marketing, real estate, executive recruitment, and infrastructure and technical