E-BUSINESS NEWS.

Cargill, Cenex Harvest States, DuPont and Louis Dreyfus have formed Pradium Inc., a separate company that will operate an online business-to-business marketplace and information resource to trade cash grains, oilseeds and commodity by-product exchanges. Dan Amstutz, most recently president and CEO of the North American Export Grain Association, will serve as chairman of the board. Rhem Wooten, former energy executive, is named Pradium's president and CEO. Joe Braker, former executive with The Andersons, Inc., is senior vice president, operations. Pradium will be located in Annapolis, Md. Transora will act as a central hub for Novopoint and Foodtrader.com, providing linkages to other Internet marketplaces that connect suppliers, customers and service vendors to consumer product manufacturers. The firms will develop joint pilot programs for transactions between marketplaces, coordinate regarding standards and identify other appropriate synergy opportunities.

Rooster.com, formerly located at 7760 France Ave. South, has relocated to 5601 Green Valley Drive, Bloomington, MN 55437. The company's main telephone number has changed to 952/842-2600 and its fax number to 952/842-2656. After launching in March 2000, Rooster.com has increased its staff to 72 full-time employees ... The Andersons, Inc., Bunge Corp., IMC Global Inc. and Louis Dreyfus Group have become strategic investors in Rooster.com. "The addition of this group of diverse investors reinforces the direction that we are taking in building an open, unbiased marketplace," explains Gary Carlson, president and CEO of Rooster.com. "It also dramatically moves us closer to our goal of facilitating relationships that deliver value-added solutions to participants across the agricultural community."

vTraction.com, New York, has become a minority shareholder in Sparks Companies Inc., Memphis. vTraction.com is an e-commerce initiative of Rabobank, a leading bank for the food and agriculture industry. The partnership will allow SCI's data management, consulting, information technology and distribution systems to capitalize on vTraction.com's network of food and agriculture e-commerce partners.

DirectAg.com, St. Paul, Minn., has completed a $19.5 million round of private financing led by Rural Press Limited, the world's largest agricultural publishing company. This round of private financing is the third completed by DirectAg.com and brings the total amount of capital raised to date to $34.6 million.

VantagePoint Network, LLC, Fort Collins, Colo., is expanding Web application offerings by providing customized information and tracking systems. Demonstrated by successful implementations in the crop production sector with partners CropVerifeye.com, LLC, and Farmland Industries, Inc., VantagePoint's technology can be tailored for many agriculture industry segments interested in field-level traceability systems.

AgriClick, Kansas City, Mo., has formed an alliance with MachineryLink, Kansas City, enabling AgriClick to connect its users directly to MachineryLink's e-commerce resources. The two sites will share strategic data as well as some advertising. AgriClick is one of the vertical online communities under the umbrella of IndustryClick, Primedia's business-to-business Internet subsidiary. Primedia will also promote MachineryLink through its business-to-business agricultural publications and Web sites.

MachineryLink CEO David Forsee says the alliance benefits Machinerylink by expediting access for AgriClick's large user base. MachineryLink provides tools to help producers identify and establish equipment sharing relationships, sell equipment and locate reliable used equipment. The alliance is scheduled to take effect immediately.

Agribuys, Torrance, Calif., a provider of comprehensive Web-based services developed specifically for the food industry, has opened a Canadian subsidiary, Agribuys Canada Inc., in Toronto. The office will serve as the contact point for businesses throughout Canada. Robert Atkin will act as managing director of Agribuys Canada and will be responsible for implementing and integrating Agribuys' systems for major retailers, foodservice operators and suppliers in Canada. Agribuys has also opened its first European subsidiary, Agribuys U.K., located near London.

ICECorp.com, Shawnee Mission, Kan., launches ICE Private Network (IPN), a Web-based exchange platform that offers commercial customers a proprietary online marketplace tailored to their particular needs. IPN provides grain elevators, feed companies and others with a cost-effective, closed exchange for their community of customers. Licensed IPN users and their customers can access the system through the host company's own branded Web site, powered by ICECorp.com.