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Gold/Mining/Energy : BCE Emergis - global e-commerce -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sPD who wrote (271)	1/23/1999 1:03:00 AM
From: rocki	Respond to of 1341

You will like this one! Strong Buy-$30 target In todays Mtl Gazette-22jan99 $48.9-million war chest Mpact becomes BCE Emergis, starts hunt for E-commerce acquisitions AUSON MacGREGOR The Gazette Mpact Immedia Corp. officially changed its name to BCE Emergis Inc. yesterday and announced the sale of 4.527 million common shares to its parent company Bell Canada for $43.9 million. The company will use the money to finance major acquisitions in the US., with the aim of doubling its revenue in 1999. During the last period, BCE Emergis said it had restructured the company, streamlined product lines and costs ~ integrated its facilities and combined its work force with that of Newstar Technologies Inc.'s E-finance division, which It acquired on Dec.15. The company said it expects to report results on Jan.29 that will show revenue of about $25 million for the three-month period ended Nov 30, and $36 million for the four-month period ended Dec.31. Estimated losses for the three and four-month periods are $2.5 million and $2.7 million, respectively The figures excluded a one-time merger rationalization charge of an expected $12 million, and are before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Yorkton Securities analyst Mark Pavan said renaming the company and buying the shares reaffirms Bell's commitment to the E-commerce sector. "It gives (BCE Emergis) enough cash to go out and build arguably one of the world's leading electronic commerce companies and electronic solutions companies," he said. The Montreal-based firm combines E-commerce with network technology These Internet-related services allow companies to transfer paper-based transactions to electronic ones, saving time and money Customers are able to exchange information with each other and do secure financial transactions. For example, an employee could log onto one of these networks to access and send out purchasing orders. The company has targeted the banking industry mortgage services, the government, online shopping and the automotive and transportation industries. The company predicts that most of its expansion will occur in the U.S. market through Internal growth and acquisition. Industry reports show that the E-commerce market is booming. The Boston-based Yankee Group has estimated that online consumers spent $2.55 billion in the U.S. at Christmas. In the 1997 holiday period, it was $800 million. "It still hasn't happened yet - it's what's about to happen," said BCE Emergis president and CEO Brian Edwards, adding that current Web site penetration by businesses is only 13 per cent. He said the company has had preliminary discussions with some U.S. firms it is considering acquiring. Yesterday's stock issue was part of a preemptive right granted to Bell Canada when it acquired a 65 percent interest in Mpact last Aug.31. Bell Canada now holds 68.4 per cent of the issued and outstanding common shares of Mpact Immedia, or 63 per cent on a fully diluted basis. Edwards said Bell wants to maintain an interest in the 65-per-cent range in BCE Emergis but that the company would consider floating more stock in order to finance future acquisitions. Pavan said Yorkton Securities recommends the stock as a strong buy with a price target of $30 for the next 12 to 18 months. Yesterday, it closed at $20.80, down $1.70. The Toronto Stock Exchange has included the renamed company in its 300 index.