Electric Mail Announces New President and Acquisition of Steel Wave Enterprises Inc.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 12, 1999--

The Electric Mail Company Inc. (the "company") (VSE:ELE.) today announced senior management changes and the acquisition of Steel Wave Enterprises Inc.

Management Changes

The directors of the company announced that Iain J.S. Black has been appointed president and a director of the company effective immediately. Cathy Munn, co-founder of the company, endorsed Black's appointment, saying, "Iain brings a balance of high-energy entrepreneurial spirit and an astute understanding of the bottom-line impact of various strategic initiatives.

"This new appointment is an important addition to our executive management team, and I am confident that Iain's expertise and experience will be instrumental in the successful execution of both existing and new growth initiatives."

Black has extensive experience in the technology industry in Canada. He currently serves as president and CEO of Steel Wave Enterprises Inc., a privately held British Columbia company. Previously, he led the Western Canadian contract executive practice as a partner with The Caldwell Partners International Inc., and prior to that, he served as chief operating officer of Axion Internet Communications Inc. of Vancouver, a regional Internet Services Provider.

There, he applied traditional business management principles to the fast-paced Internet industry that led Axion to accelerated growth and sustained profitability. Black also spent six years with IBM as a sales and marketing executive in progressively senior client and services management roles. Black holds a B.Comm. (Honours) degree from the University of Manitoba, majoring in both marketing and management information systems.

Black commented: "I am fortunate to be associating with an Internet company having such a solid foundation of technical superiority and business ingenuity. In assuming this role with Electric Mail, I look forward to building on its many accomplishments and focusing our collective energies on international sales growth and strategic alliances. I couldn't be more delighted with the opportunity and the challenge."

In connection with the appointment of Black as president, Munn will resign as president and CEO of the company and move into the position of director, Business Development.

Business Acquisition

The company has signed a letter of intent under which it plans to acquire Steel Wave Enterprises Inc. ("Steel Wave") in consideration for the issuance of 1 million free trading and performance escrow common shares of the company.

This acquisition is subject to completion of a formal acquisition agreement, completion of due diligence and obtaining regulatory approval to the transaction. The allocation between free trading and performance escrow shares will be determined by a valuation report of Steel Wave to be prepared by an independent chartered business valuator.

Steel Wave has developed an enterprisewide outsourcing model for Internet services, with a view to providing a full suite of outsourcing alternatives to Internet companies (i.e. ISPs, Web portals, Web site hosting companies, telcos, CLECs and cable companies). These services include technical support (or "help desk") services, e-mail, news, user authentication and billing.

With Forrester Research projecting that Internet access revenues will grow from $6B US in 1997 to $38B US in 2002, Internet companies will increasingly, according to Dun and Bradstreet, "establish strategic partnerships that give them access to specialized expertise in critical business function."

Further fueling demand for Steel Wave services is that the cost and complexity of providing these services and supporting the Internet users will increase for both Internet companies and internal corporate and government IT departments. Steel Wave is well positioned to capitalize on all of these trends.

The Electric Mail Company and Steel Wave share common client target markets. It is expected that Steel Wave's additional product and service strategies will complement the company's existing products and services. Further, the acquisition of Steel Wave will position the company to become a unique turnkey service provider for Internet companies wishing to outsource part, or all, of the more routine, high-volume yet mission-critical aspects of running their business.

Consequently, Steel Wave's strategy dovetails extremely well with Electric Mail's established outsourcing model in the messaging arena.

Settlement with Former Director

On Sept. 10, 1999, the company announced the resignation of Harish Consul as a director. In connection with that resignation, in private transactions, Consul divested 200,000 units that he acquired in a prior private placement, 156,700 free trading shares that he previously acquired, 450,000 performance shares that were transferred back to their original holders and agreed to the cancellation of 250,000 stock options.

About The Electric Mail Company Inc.

The Electric Mail Company Inc. is a leading provider of e-mail outsourcing in North America. Positioned at the forefront of the emerging outsourcing sector, the company's strategic relationships include industry majors such as IBM Global Network, Lotus, Novell, Trend Micro and TELUS Advanced Communications. The company serves major corporations, Web portals, ISPs, and Web-hosting and management companies throughout North America.

Note to Editors: The Electric Mail Company and E-mmunity(TM) are registered trademarks of The Electric Mail Company. Other names may be trademarks of their respective company.

The Vancouver Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.