Agilera Announces Merger With Applicast; Combination to Create Largest Privately Held Full-Service ASP.

Business Editors

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. AND MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 19, 2000

Agilera, a leading full-service pure-play application service provider (ASP), today announced the signing of a definitive agreement whereby Agilera will acquire Menlo Park, Calif.-based Applicast, a full-service vertical industry-focused ASP, in a stock-for-stock transaction.

The new company, which will operate under the Agilera name, brings together the complementary products, resources, market strategy and staff of these two ASP market leaders to create the largest privately held full-service ASP in the industry.

Applicast's Menlo Park headquarters will be designated as Agilera's Western Region Operations Center. Agilera will maintain its corporate headquarters in Englewood, Colo., its Eastern Region Operations Center in Columbia, S.C. and offices nationwide.

"Applicast is a full-service vertical ASP focused on the manufacturing industry that has a solid track record of delivering productized ERP and CRM solutions, such as Siebel and SAP. Applicast will enable Agilera to accelerate the build-out and depth of its manufacturing practice, while Applicast should benefit from the sales leverage Agilera's larger reach can provide," said William G. Dering, Jr., who heads C.E. Unterberg, Towbin's ASP Research Team and was the first Wall Street analyst to exclusively focus on the ASP industry.

"We believe the ASP industry is evolving to be about more than just hosting a single application. The key to a successful ASP business is a deep level of knowledge and understanding of customers' unique needs through an industry-specific focus," said Paul Rudolph, Agilera chairman and CEO. "Applicast's strong heritage in the manufacturing vertical along with both companies' deep level of business process expertise, `product packaging' and content will create a significant market advantage for the new Agilera."

As individual companies, Agilera and Applicast are both recognized as leaders in the ASP market with a strong brand presence. This merger cements a leadership position in the ASP market for the "new" Agilera by creating an even stronger presence in the industry, enhancing its ability to provide productized solutions to a larger client base and strengthening its ability to offer more diverse solutions to its target vertical industries.

"Applicast's business model mirrors Agilera's and its team of professionals is first rate. From a strategic perspective, this merger will provide a growth opportunity through a unique synergy in technology and markets," said Rob Unger, Agilera president and COO. "This natural synergy is most apparent in our business models. Both Agilera and Applicast have been dedicated to providing full-service solutions to our customers through interdependent relationships with key partners that enable us to focus on what matters most: providing the highest quality service to our customers. Together, we will take the new Agilera to a level higher than either Agilera or Applicast could as stand-alone enterprises."

"The new Agilera will benefit from an array of additional customers, Applicast's strong processes and methodology in developing productized industry-specific offerings, key relationships with Independent Software Vendors, and a high-caliber team of professionals driven to lead the ASP industry," added Unger.

"Applicast is now part of a well-positioned national company that has a similar view of the requirements for success in today's market and economy. We are already targeting a variety of opportunities to leverage our combined product offering across both customer sets and our target industry and market verticals," said John McGrory, Applicast president and CEO. "As one unified company, we will expand our market leadership and change what is expected from the ASP industry."

The merger will close when Hart-Scott-Rodino and other regulatory approvals are received.

About Applicast

Applicast(TM), Inc. is the premier total-solution application service provider (ASP) for aggressive-growth companies. The Applicast Business Applications Network(TM) offers full-service application outsourcing for mission-critical applications from top-tier providers including SAP, Siebel ands Agile, over secure private or Internet connections. Applicast's unique combination of a world-class application portfolio, targeted FastPack(TM) solutions, and full-lifecycle services enables its clients to slash the time, costs and risks of deploying top-tier systems. Applicast is a privately held, venture-backed organization.

About Agilera

Agilera is a full-service, pure-play application service provider (ASP) that offers a flexible hosting platform for IT and e-business operations. Agilera's interdependent business model enables customers to expand efficiently and scale their level of enabling technologies without significant ongoing investments in infrastructure. Agilera, headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, was founded by CIBER, Inc., the trusted technology leader transforming businesses to be agile, scalable and connected; Verio Inc., the world's largest Web hosting company; and Centennial Ventures, Colorado's largest venture capital firm. Agilera provides its customers the velocity for faster time to market, as well as "dot.com agility and Fortune 500 stability(TM)." Agilera's Web site is www.agilera.com.