IIXL - Thursday January 11, 8:27 am Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: iXL
Christopher M. Formant Named President and Chief Executive Officer of iXL; PricewaterhouseCoopers Veteran to Lead Company
ATLANTA, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- iXL (Nasdaq: IIXL - news) announced today that the Board of Directors has named Christopher M. Formant, 49, iXL's President and Chief Executive Officer, effective February 1, 2001. iXL Founder and current Chairman and CEO U. Bertram Ellis, Jr., 47, will remain the Chairman of the Board of iXL and will continue to focus on business development efforts for the company. Mr. Ellis will also focus on the monetization of the iXL Ventures portfolio.
Mr. Formant, who most recently led PricewaterhouseCoopers' highly regarded Global Banking Consulting Practice, also was elected to the iXL Board of Directors.
``Chris is a tremendous leader whose skill in running a large, professional services organization will take iXL to the next level,'' said Ellis. ``Chris knows our industry, and he is an expert in financial services consulting and CRM, in particular. He has successfully grown large organizations to world- class levels, and he is considered one of the top consultants in the world. He has a superb track record of developing and implementing leading-edge solutions and recruiting and energizing teams to perform at their peak. We are all very pleased to have Chris lead iXL.''
New CEO is Final Step in Turnaround
The announcement of Mr. Formant as iXL's new President and Chief Executive Officer represents the last of the company's major actions to effect its turnaround. During the fourth quarter, iXL completed its financial and organizational restructuring; reduced its expenses by approximately half; spun off or closed several offices; and focused its business on its largest enterprise services, financial services, retail, and travel industry clients.
iXL also received $20 million from ProAct Technologies Corp. for the rights to acquire up to 10 percent of iXL's interest in ProAct; amended and renewed its $50 million working capital facility; and put in place an innovative offshore development partnership with HCL Perot Systems (HPS), whereby iXL sold 1 million shares of iXL stock for $3 per share to HPS. The company also reiterated its goal to reach EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) profitability by early 2001. iXL ended the year with a cash balance of approximately $50 million.
``iXL is a much more focused company. I believe that we now have the resources and leadership in place to become profitable again in early 2001, as we said we would,'' Ellis added.
``iXL has completed a remarkable turnaround. The company's cash position appears solid, and I believe we can become profitable very quickly,'' Formant said. ``iXL is positioned to excel in today's dynamic consulting marketplace with its strong Fortune 500 client relationships, world-class solutions, strong alliance partners, access to offshore development and implementation resources, and a successful venture capital arm. I look forward to working closely with Bert on our business development efforts. I am impressed with iXL's existing platform, and the tenacity of iXL people. I am excited by what we will build together.''
``The skills and experiences iXL amassed in the Internet development space are being leveraged into a unique, focused set of vertical market capabilities, which we intend to develop into best-in-class solutions delivery,'' Formant added. ``My intention is to build a highly cost-effective competitor with the best New Economy talent and energy mixed with Old Economy domain knowledge, low-cost offshore resources and Big 5-type implementation skill. The lessons we have all learned over the recent past will be enthusiastically applied.''
Mr. Formant also announced his plan to personally purchase approximately 1.5 million shares of iXL common stock. As part of an announcement on December 21, 2000, iXL temporarily opened the stock-purchasing window for senior management, company directors and employees to purchase iXL stock on the open market through the end of December 2000. During that period, senior management, company directors and employees purchased 773,300 shares of iXL at an average price of $1.21. This was the maximum number of shares purchasable under company policy and SEC restrictions.
Mr. Formant joined PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1993. His positions there included Global Banking Consulting Leader and Americas Banking Industry Chairman with predecessor firm Coopers & Lybrand. Prior to moving into the consulting industry, Formant was Executive Vice President of MBNA America and MNC Financial. He holds a B.S. degree in Commerce from Washington and Lee University and an MBA from George Washington University.
About iXL
iXL is a global consulting firm that helps companies use the power of emerging technologies and advanced business strategy to build stronger, more profitable relationships with their customers, employees and business partners. iXL has done this successfully for some of the world's leading companies, including AIG, BellSouth, British Airways, Chase, CitiCorp, Coca- Cola, Delta Air Lines, FedEx, First Union, Fleet, GE, LloydsTSB, and Virgin, via its Enterprise Accounts, Travel/Transportation, Financial Services and Retail/Consumer Packaged Goods groups. For more information, visit www.ixl.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This release contains certain forward-looking statements regarding iXL, including statements about its operations, prospects and expectations about future financial results. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include the ability to complete the anticipated transactions on acceptable terms, the ability to implement the strategies outlined above, the demand for iXL's services, iXL's ability to obtain additional projects with existing or new clients, iXL's ability to provide services to existing and new clients, the sufficiency of iXL's sales and marketing teams, future growth, absence of long-term contracts with clients, key management and employee retention, competition, technological advances, and other factors identified in iXL's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the 10-K and subsequent 10-Qs. Copies of those filings are available from the Company and the SEC. |
