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Company
Contact: Press Contact: Dian
Griesel, Ph.D. CT Holdings
announces letter of intent to acquire 25% of ideavillage.com with an
option to acquire up to 51%
Dallas,
Texas, August 4, 2000 – CT
Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: CITN), an incubator of early stage Internet
services companies, today announced that it has entered into a letter of
intent relating to the acquisition of 25% of the shares of ideavillage.com,
with a one-year option to acquire up to an additional 26%.
The companies expect to close this transaction within the next 60
days. The terms of the
initial tranche of the transaction included $4.5 million in cash and
750,000 stock options, with the second tranche to be acquired from the
existing shareholders for $9.0 million in CT shares valued at $5.00 per
share, cash or a combination of both. ideavillage,
headquartered in New Jersey, was launched in August 1999 to take new and
innovative product ideas from concept to mass retail shelves at Internet
speed. In a revolutionary “clicks and mortar” process, ideavillage’s
total solution integrates online product evaluation, direct-response
television (DRTV), and unique in-store media into a comprehensive
innovative process that selects and markets only the strongest products.
We believe that retail stores, etailers and manufacturers will come to
rely on ideavillage’s offering as the surest, simplest way to
confidently add new and tested products to their offerings. ideavillage
seeks to re-engineer and automate the broken process of launching quality
new innovative products to market. ideavillage
intends to offer its solutions which will allow companies to implement the
results of the online product evaluation process. ideavillage also
provides an innovative new Internet enabled entrepreneur portal designed
to help innovators to develop and market their new products in a joint
venture with ideavillage. ideavillage was founded by Andy Khubani, President and CEO. Mr. Khubani launched ideavillage.com in August 1999 after a nine-year career as president/sales of Telebrands. In his career at Telebrands, he increased sales to retailers a hundredfold, from $1.3 million to $130 million. From 1996-99, Andy successfully re-engineered Telebrands’ sales strategy which resulted in substantial bottom line profit growth. At ideavillage.com, Khubani has assembled a strong management team as well as a world-class advisory board to execute the company’s new business processes. “We
are very excited about the opportunity to invest in ideavillage, a company
pioneering a new online approach to enabling retail and manufacturing
companies to evaluate products prior to launch in the retail channel,
which is intended to increase profitability for retailers, e-tailers and
manufacturers,” said CT’s CEO Steven B. Solomon. “We look forward to
working with the management team of ideavillage to bring the company to
the next level,” he continued, “We believe that ideavillage’s
comprehensive value–added decision support solutions will have a
profound impact for companies doing business over the Internet and in
retail channels and increase value for CT shareholders.” Andy
Khubani, CEO of ideavillage, stated “ideavillage is very excited about
our partnership with CT Holdings. We were approached by several large
companies and felt that CT and its portfolio companies offered the most
compelling synergies and long term value for ideavillage.
By combining our existing technology, products, and marketing
capability with CT Holding’s management and incubation resources, we
will be able to fully leverage our combined strengths to deliver
unprecedented value to our customers and partners through unique,
value-added, Internet-based technology.” Mr.
Solomon continued, “With our successful investments in Parago and River
Logic and their continued successful development, our business model
continues to accelerate. Now with the addition of ideavillage, we are more
excited about the future prospects for CT’s business model than ever
before. We continue to look
for companies with strong prospects and innovative technologies that we
believe are synergistic with the offerings of our existing portfolio
companies. Following on our successes with Parago and River Logic, we
believe that our acquisition of a substantial interest in ideavillage
positions CT Holdings as a leader in the Internet space and will increase
our shareholder value.” ideavillage has assembled a high quality management team and an advisory board that includes leaders in the retail and manufacturing sectors, including Jerry W. Levin, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Sunbeam Corporation, and prior Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Coleman Company, Inc. and Revlon, Inc., Jordan Stanley, President and CEO of Free Ride Media, the Web’s first network loyalty program, Victor K. “Tory” Kiam III, President of RPI Corporation, a diversified holding company with several leading brands, and Edward J. Stern, Chairman and Chief Executive of The Hartz Mountain Corporation, North America’s largest manufacturer of pet care products. Upon closing of the transactions, we anticipate that the advisory board members will become directors of ideavillage. About CT Holdings CT
Holdings (Nasdaq: CITN) is an incubator for early stage Internet companies
(www.ct-holdings.com ). CT Holdings’ incubator ventures include Parago
and River Logic. Parago (www.parago.com
) provides online, outsourced continuous customer interaction solutions
and is headquartered in Dallas with offices in Silicon Valley and Los
Angeles and more than 400 employees. Parago has developed a continuous
customer interaction model that automates promotional management and
optimizes the customer care experience for its clients. Parago, an
application solution provider (ASP) and Internet based business process
outsourcer (BPO), provides an online suite of promotional offerings
designed to increase sales, reduce costs, and retain customers, thereby
increasing customer profitability. Parago’s solutions and services
include PromoCenter (on-line promotional management, on-line rebate
processing, proactive e-mail, and on-line surveys), InfoCenter (online
product demonstrations and manuals), and KnowledgeCenter (customer data
warehousing, analysis and reporting). River Logic is a leading developer
of proprietary network applications that focus on decision-making and
process optimization in vertical marketplaces. River Logic creates and
operates integrated networks of decision support tools, e-learning
solutions, and e-commerce capabilities that revolutionize the manner in
which decision-makers leverage knowledge and information, allowing them to
gain decisive competitive advantage. For more information on CT Holdings, its Internet subsidiaries, and its Citadel Technology line of security software products, please visit our Web site at http://www.ct-holdings.com. For information on purchasing products, contact us directly by writing or calling: CT Holdings, Inc., 3811 Turtle Creek Blvd., Suite 770, Dallas, Texas 75219; phone: 214/520.9292; fax: 214/520.9293. For media or investor relations contact: The Investor Relations Group at 212/736.2650. About
ideavillage ideavillage.com
was launched in August 1999 to take new and innovative product ideas, from
concept to mass retail shelves at Internet speed. In a revolutionary “clicks and mortar” process, the
company integrates online product evaluation, direct-response television (DRTV),
and unique in-store media into a comprehensive innovative process that
scientifically selects and markets only the strongest products. This
system, the first of its kind, created a new consumer brand,
ideavillage.com, the definitive source for innovative products. Consumers
will come to trust the ideavillage.com brand as a source of fresh,
high-quality products. Retail stores will come to rely on ideavillage.com
as the surest, simplest way to confidently add new and tested products to
their offerings. Forward-Looking
Statements: This
news release contains forward-looking statements, which involve risks and
uncertainties. Accordingly, no assurance can be given that the actual
events and results will not be materially different than the anticipated
results described in the forward-looking statement. There are a number of
important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. These factors
include uncertainties related to the closing of the proposed acquisition
and integration of the business and operations of acquired companies;
availability of suitable incubator companies; and the availability of
capital on terms acceptable to the Company. Investors are also directed to
consider other risks and uncertainties discussed in documents with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. CT
Holdings undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any
revisions to these forward-looking statements, which may be made to
reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the
occurrence of unanticipated events.
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