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Gold/Mining/Energy : GPW Group West Systems Ltd. (Year 2000 Software Company) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mr. Forthright who wrote (534)	4/27/1998 2:58:00 AM
From: AH	Respond to of 1443

No, you don't state facts when you say that the GPW stock is overvalued. You state your opinion about company that went public only 9 moths ago. The Y2K industry has an explosive potential. Especially, when a company has more to offer than just Y2K related services. Companies that are able to pick up the outsourced business from big corporations make good bucks. A fee for such services can go as high as 30-50 mil a year for a comprehensive package. Such companies can service hardware, run networks and operating system on multiple platforms ranging from mainframe to PC, develop customized software, offer technical support for the user. You name it. Virtually every piece of an Information Systems department may be for grabs. Visit the GPW site. They offer their quite comprehensive expertise in communications and computing. They use the Y2K business to expand, make contacts within the industry and earn credibility in the eyes of customers. About small private companies.... See, the owners may choose to control all aspects of a small company's operations and manage it well. The mere fact that GPW survived over 20 years in the volatile industry looks to me as the proof of GOOD management. You say: 'What you are describing is a case of mismanagement or a classic case of entrepreneurs not being able to migrate from the entrepreneurial stage to the organization stage. Most of these companies end-up not succeeding in the long run. Group West MAY just be that type of company. What makes somebody decide to grow after 22 years of stagnation?' What about an opportunity like the Y2K problem? I don't know if GPW succeeds in a long run. This is the highly speculative part of the play. However, I like what they have been doing and am not selling their stock. You ask: 'What do you mean when you say that GPW needs to move to a more senior exchange to become a mature company? Are you suggesting that clients won't buy their products if they are listed on the VSE?' For a lot of people a VSE company is a SPECULATION. That's why it is difficult, if not impossible, to find a broker who let you buy on margin if you don't own stock listed on a senior stock exchange like TSE. Of course, there is a lot of junk listed on TSE and I am a proud owner of some of it. We are talking about GPW, though. The listing on TSE would certainly help them build long term relations with big corporate clients. Technically, the company's stock would automatically become an investment prospect/candidate for much larger community. In every NR by GPW one can read: 'Group West Systems Ltd. is focusing on the midrange market with offices located throughout Canada and the Western United States. Group West also provides a comprehensive range of services to the rapidly evolving information technology services industry including such leaders as Rogers Sugar, Pharmasave, BC Rail, Toronto Dominion Bank and Microsoft Corporation.' For small and mid-sized IS shops the VSE listed GPW may be a perfect fit. It looks that this the case with GPW. You ask: 'Pursuing acquisitions may be the right strategy but will the management of GPW be able to identify and buy the right companies at the right price and then integrate them to their existing business successfully?' I like the AASKI deal very much. Integrating the GPW Manitoba was a natural step in the right direction. Nothing to complain about. I am very interested in seeing how well the AASKI capabilities will be utilized. The most promising news we got last week was that the INTO2000 tool set has a COBOL version now. This can open a lot of doors and can bring big bucks when combined with the AASKI test lab. PS. I don't think I quote you out of context.