Carnegie International Makes Foray into Hospitality Industry With Purchase of Paramount International Telecommunications
December 16, 1998
BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE) Carnegie
International Corporation (OTC BB:
CAGI), a holding company specializing
in Internet, telephony and
telecommunications products, services
and distribution, announced it has
signed a letter of intent (subject to
normal due diligence) to purchase
Paramount International
Telecommunications, Inc., of Vista,
California. Financial details were not
disclosed.
Founded in 1994 and privately-held,
Paramount focuses on serving hotels
and other businesses, primarily in 0+/-
call auditing and international one-plus
sectors. It has current contracted
business for 1999 exceeding $15 million
in revenue.
David Moody, chairman of Paramount,
said "the proposed marriage of
Carnegie and Paramount should provide
both companies with increased
technological capabilities and products
with enormous market potential in the
overall telephony industry and specific
application and appeal in the
hospitality sector."
Lowell Farkas, Carnegie's president and
CEO, said Paramount's technology and
customer base will ease Carnegie's
entry into the hospitality industry with
MAVIS(tm), its entirely voice-activated
automated attendant and voice
mail/message system. He said MAVIS
would be sold to the hospitality
industry through telephony-oriented
distributors in the U.S. as part of the
overall distribution program.
Farkas said revenues generated by
Paramount will have a significant
impact on Carnegie's basic earnings per
share, adding some $0.08 in1999, and
will not have an immediate substantial
dilutive impact due to the contractual
purchase in convertible form. He said
Carnegie plans for Paramount to remain
in Vista and operate as a wholly-owned
subsidiary.
Intelligent Voice-Activated
Communications with MAVIS
Introduced this summer, MAVIS (for
Multi-Language Automated Voice
Independent System) is a
voice-activated auto attendant that
communicates intelligently with callers.
Using advanced, proprietary voice
recognition software, it answers
incoming calls, recognizes names or
departments requested, and directs
calls accordingly. The MAVIS interface
is available in English and all foreign
languages supported through licensed
Lernout & Hauspie (NASDAQ: LHSPF)
software and Dialogic CPU telephony
cards. It can be used 24 hours a day,
365 days a year, or implemented after
hours, on weekends, or when incoming
call volume requires support for
"only-human" operators. MAVIS runs on
Windows 98(R) or Windows NT(R), can
be easily customized to the needs of
any business or organization, supports
voice mail/messages, faxes and e-mail,
and runs on any existing business
telephone system.
Domestic and International Distribution
for MAVIS
Carnegie has established worldwide
distribution for MAVIS, and said last
week that a national marketing and
sales program in the U.S. will be
announced by the end of the year and
in place by mid-January. It has
announced licensing, marketing and
distribution agreements for Russia and
other Eastern European countries
including Poland, Hungary and the
Czech Republic, Italy, and through
Profit Thru Telecommunications (PTT)
of Sheffield, U.K., a wholly-owned
subsidiary, with Precitel of Neuchatel,
Switzerland, to integrate and distribute
MAVIS with French and German
language modules from Lernout &
Hauspie.
Carnegie International Corporation
(OTC BB: CAGI) is a holding company
specializing in Internet, telephony and
telecommunications products, services
and distribution. Carnegie's primary
wholly-owned subsidiaries include:
RomNet Support Services, Inc., an
Internet, e-business and technical
support services company based in
Boston; Profit Through
Telecommunications (Europe) Ltd.
(PTT), a telecommunications software
company providing business solutions
utilizing proprietary speech recognition,
touch tone and bar code responses to
send and/or receive information;
Talidan, a reseller marketing telephone
time and information at discounted
rates in Europe, South America, and
other emerging markets, ACC Telecom
of Columbia, Maryland, a leading
reseller of equipment and business
telephone systems from Comdial
(NASDAQ: CMDL), SONY(R) (NYSE:
SNE), and Sprint(R) (NYSE: FON), and
Voice Quest, Inc., of Sarasota, Florida,
a developer and provider of speech
recognition and voice mail technologies
and products. For the first half of fiscal
1998 ended June 30, Carnegie reported
total income of $8.9 million and
after-tax basic earnings per share of
$0.075. For fiscal 1997, Carnegie
reported total income of $6.9 million
and after-tax basic earnings per share
of $0.07.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995 provides a "safe harbor " for
forward-looking statements. Certain
information included in this Press
Release (as well as information in oral
statements or other written
statements made or to be made by
Carnegie International Corporation)
contain statements that are
forward-looking, such as statements
relating to the future anticipated
direction of the telecommunications
industry, plans for future expansion,
various business development
activities, planned capital
expenditures, future funding sources,
anticipated sales growth, and potential
contracts. Such forward-looking
information involves important risks and
uncertainties that could significantly
affect anticipated results in the future,
and accordingly, such results may
differ from those expressed in any
forward-looking statements made by or
on behalf of Carnegie International
Corporation. These risks and
uncertainties included, but are not
limited to, those relating to
development and expansion activities,
dependence on existing management,
financing activities, domestic and
global economic conditions, change in
Federal or state laws, and market
competition factors.
MAVIS is a trademark of Carnegie
International Corporation. Other
trademarks are properties of their
respective owners. |
