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Technology Stocks : MBT International Inc. (MBTI) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BuddyW who wrote (148)	3/24/1999 9:55:00 AM
From: Fred C. Dobbs	Respond to of 212

March 24, 1999 07:48 MBT International's AgriMall/Horse Exchange Site Begins Online Auctions CASTLE ROCK, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 24, 1999-- Site to Also Auction Cattle and Farm Equipment MBT International Inc. (OTC: MBTI), a leading provider of agricultural products and services over the Internet, today announced that its first online auction went live on Monday, March 22, 1999 at its www.horsenet.com internet site. The site went live with 21 horses available for bids, representing a small fraction of the total number to be placed online over the next few months. MBTI's online strategy requires a much slower and careful pace than many current online auction sites. Between the MBTI Broker network and the newly acquired HorseNet database, the Company has over 13,000 horses available for sale via the Internet of which it expects to move 15% to 25% to the auction environment. MBTI online auctions are different from almost every other online auction in that an MBTI broker represents every lot for sale. The potential buyer can contact the broker to ask specific questions about the animal or to get a more detailed description of the lot. MBTI also provides escrow services to the buyer-seller customers. Richard Lasater, Chief Technology Officer of MBTI, stated, "We believe the online auction has to be an extension of the traditional services we provide, not a replacement of them. We will bring the farm and heavy equipment auctions online first, then add our value-adds like video streaming and satellite delivery. We are currently negotiating with a traditional auction house to hold our first real-time, simultaneous auction this summer. Mr. Lasater continued, "MBTI is entering the online auction industry cautiously so as to avoid some of the problems being experienced by similar ventures such as eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY). We will move more animals over from the Horse Exchange to the auction as our existing broker network becomes more comfortable with working in the online auction environment. Unlike sites like UBID (Nasdaq: UBID), we have an existing customer base and sales network in place. We want to ensure that our core business meshes smoothly with the new technology." The company noted that the AuctionBarn(TM) software developed by MBTI has no preset limit to the number of lots that can be online at any given time. Additionally, in order to curtail the problem of false bidding, the company has added a module to collect a buyer's premium and pre-validate the bidder's credit card. Since all lots for sale in an MBTI auction are represented by an MBTI broker, MBTI buyers are protected from the false-product problems as seen by other online auction sites. MBTI is the parent company of AgriMall.com (www.agrimall.com), Horsenet.com (www.horsenet.com), LifeAtHome.com (www.lifeathome.com) and Bookstable.com (www.bookstable.com). MBTI's strategy is to acquire high content, value-added, sophisticated yet navigable websites and become a leader in the $300 billion agricultural industry. Certain statements in this release are forward looking. Although MBT International, Inc. believes its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions within the bounds of its knowledge of its business and operations, there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from its expectations. For factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations and underlying assumptions, see reports by MBT International filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. CONTACT: MBT International, Inc. Andy McKinnon, CEO 303/688-0244 Fax: 303/814-2382 or Wolfe Axelrod Associates Stephen D. Axelrod, CFA Donald Weinberger 212/370-4500 Fax: 212/370-4505