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Press ReleaseTuesday 7 March, 2000 POWERLAN FURTHER ENHANCES ITS ASP STRATEGY BY THE EXPANSION OF ITS RANGE OF IT&T SERVICES TO INCLUDE CONNECTIVITY AND ASP ENABLING SOFTWARE Powerlan Limited has further enhanced its ASP strategy with the acquisition of the X-Server and Host Connectivity Division of White Pine Software, Inc NASDAQ WPNE (this Division herein referred to as "White Pine Connectivity"). White Pine Connectivity develops, licences, installs and maintains a range of connectivity software products which allow corporates to take greater advantage of the Internet as a delivery mechanism for software applications. The customer base of White Pine Connectivity includes over 100 US corporations and government agencies ( such as Bank of America, Boeing, Motorola, NASA, Parks and Wildlife, and US Naval Underwater Warfare Center), many large international corporations ( such as Siemens and Telia), several large corporate clients in Australia such as C&W Optus and BMW and hundreds of educational institutions world wide. White Pine Connectivity has more than 100,000 users who connect with its software products world wide. White Pine Connectivity is based in Nashua, New Hampshire, and was purchased by Powerlan’s 100% owned US subsidiary company, Powerlan USA Inc. All employees of the Division have joined Powerlan USA. The product range of White Pine Connectivity includes:
Connectivity software products are becoming more and more relevant to the growing ASP market in that they enable low cost access by multiple users to centrally located complex software applications via the Internet. Connectivity software products largely eliminate the need to install and manage numerous desktop client applications to access enterprise information through the Internet. By making Web browser the universal interface to enterprise information resources, connectivity software reduces the cost of enterprise connectivity by reducing the cost of desktop management. Using a Web-based connectivity product such as WebTerm allows mobile and other remote users to access mainframe, midrange and windows based back-end systems quite inexpensively via the Internet from virtually anywhere. Business partners, suppliers, customers and other trusted trading partners can also access information and applications across an extranet using a Web-to-Host or Thin X solution forming the basis of Business to Business (B2B) solutions. According to Gartner Group, Web-to Host connectivity solutions offer up to 25% saving in operating costs over traditional back end application access because of the simpler new technology internet access thin client environment. Ownership of this leading edge ASP enabling technology gives Powerlan a significant competitive advantage. Powerlan consultants and developers now have the flexibility to influence and control the development of the tool which they, and many other developers around the world, use to both rapidly ASP-enable existing client/server applications as well as to develop new applications that are designed to meet ever expanding customer requirements. The terms of the acquisition are the subject of a confidentiality agreement. The acquisition consideration comprised a mixture of Powerlan ordinary shares and cash. The Business was acquired by Powerlan on an earnings before interest and tax multiple for the year ending 30 June 2000 of 3.0 times. Mr Steve Roche, the co-founder of White Pine and now the Chief Technology Officer of Powerlan USA said, "I am convinced that Powerlan can provide our connectivity business with the support to significantly expand our business both in the United States, and internationally. Our plan is to further develop and enhance our products to maintain our position of a leading vendor of ASP and thin client development and delivery products." Mr Theo Baker, the Managing director of Powerlan said, "the range of connectivity products developed by White Pine Connectivity has direct application to our ASP strategy. These products allow for the multiple access via the internet to complex software applications. We believe Powerlan can further enhance the White Pine Connectivity suite of connectivity products and integrate them as a key component of our ASP strategy. This acquisition is also strategically important for Powerlan because it now gives us a full-time US presence and a global customer base." About Powerlan Powerlan is one of the largest Australian owned and Australian managed information technology and telecommunication ("IT&T") services organisations operating throughout the Asian Pacific region. The Company has 32 offices in 10 countries including Australia (16 offices), the United States of America, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China (3 offices), Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Macau and Indonesia. The Company has over 700 employees including a sales force of over 150 executives and a consulting and engineering team of over 450 qualified IT&T professionals. Powerlan has a customer list of over 6,000 corporate and government clients. Powerlan range of IT&T services fall into three categories:
For further information please contact: Mr. Theo Baker |
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