Pacific Internet to Focus on B2B E-Commerce Initiatives; Acquires Profitable Corporate Travel Business to Accelerate Push Into B2B Space.Business Editors SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 5, 2000 Asia's leading Internet service provider Internet service provider (ISP) Company that provides Internet connections and services to individuals and organizations. For a monthly fee, ISPs provide computer users with a connection to their site (see data transmission), as well as a log-in name and password. Pacific Internet Limited (Nasdaq:PCNTF) announced on May 3rd that it has closed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in the travel and travel-related businesses of Safe & Mansfield Travel Group Pte. Ltd. (SMTG SMTG Something SMTG Show Me The Goods SMTG Staines Musical Theatre Group (UK) SMTG Squak Mountain Telescope Gang SMTG Sport More Than a Game ), through its e-business subsidiary, Pacfusion.com Inc. SMTG is an established International Air Transport Association (IATA IATA International Air Transport Association, which sets the rules for air transport, including those concerning air transport of animals. ) accredited accredited recognition by an appropriate authority that the performance of a particular institution has satisfied a prestated set of criteria. accredited herds cattle herds which have achieved a low level of reactors to, e.g. travel agency in Singapore with a sharp focus on the corporate travel market. Although the business is profitable, recording gross profit of US$4.1 million on a turnover of US$69 million last year, it has yet to develop a strong online presence. Under the terms of the transaction, Pacfusion.com will hold an 85 percent stake in a joint venture company, Safe2Travel.com, which will acquire SMTG's travel and travel-related businesses. SMTG is a wholly owned travel unit of SAFE Enterprises. This transaction is conditional, among others, upon the successful application for a travel operator's license in Singapore. This acquisition of SMTG's travel business for US$5.9 million by Safe2Travel.com forms the foundation of Pacfusion.com's strategy to build a regional business-to-business (B2B (Business to Business) Refers to one business communicating with or selling to another. See B2B e-commerce, B2C and B2G. B2B - business to business ) travel vortal (vertical portal A Web site that provides news, articles and services to a particular industry such as IT, finance and retail. It is the industry-specific equivalent of the general-purpose portal on the Web. Also called a "vortal." See portal, corporate portal, business intelligence portal and Web hub. ) that will incorporate a sophisticated and complete online reservation system for airline tickets, hotels, car rentals and other relevant travel products. Safe2Travel.com intends to also develop innovative online products for the consumer travel market, including incentive tours, hotel wholesale, cruise services and specialty projects. "The travel industry is widely recognized as one of the most conducive industries for Internet-based transactions. Our goal is to transform this lucrative brick-and-mortar business into a leading online corporate travel management vortal. Through this transaction, Pacfusion.com has accelerated its push into the B2B space. This is merely the first of many B2B initiatives that we are exploring," said Mr. Nicholas Lee, Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Internet. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Boston Consulting Group, the online travel market in Asia was valued at US$320 million in 1999 and is expected to double this year. Pacific Internet will develop a vortal in Asia under Pacfusion.com that allows business travelers and companies to perform a variety of tasks online, from conducting their own research and comparative shopping of travel tickets, to planning and making travel arrangements. Pacfusion.com's eTravel vortal will be a 24-hour virtual travel agency accessible from anywhere in the world and by anyone with Internet access See how to access the Internet. . "In addition to boosting the revenues of Pacfusion.com, this acquisition gives us immediate access to an extensive corporate database, pool of qualified management team experienced in the travel business and a fulfillment capability to issue travel tickets. We will leverage on our extensive Internet expertise to successfully 'dot.com' this travel business," said Mr. Larry Ang, President of Pacfusion.com, Inc. About Pacific Internet Pacific Internet is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol Ticker Symbol An arrangement of characters (usually letters) representing a particular security listed on an exchange or otherwise traded publicly. When a company issues securities to the public marketplace, it selects an available ticker symbol for its securities which investors PCNTF. Pacific Internet offers award-winning services in six countries (Singapore, Hong Kong Hong Kong (hŏng kŏng), Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2005 est. pop. 6,899,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent to Guangdong prov. , the Philippines, Australia, India and Thailand) including Internet access, portal sites and the ultimate web lifestyle with the "4Cs" (connection, commerce, content and community) under Pacfusion.com. Pacific Internet won the "Best ISP (1) See in-system programmable. (2) (Internet Service Provider) An organization that provides access to the Internet. Connection to the user is provided via dial-up, ISDN, cable, DSL and T1/T3 lines. in Asia-Pacific" award in 1999 from Telecom Asia, and also the "Best ISP in Singapore" award for three consecutive years (1997, 1998, 1999) from ComputerWorld Publications. About Pacfusion.com Positioned as Asia's premier dot com company focusing on both the business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C (Business to Consumer) Refers to a business communicating with or selling to an individual rather than a company. See B2B. ) segments, Pacfusion.com has experienced significant growth in visitor or "eyeball See eyeballs and eyeball driven. " traffic at its Internet eBusiness portal. Traffic grew by an impressive 100% from approximately 2 million to 4 million page views between December 1999 and January 2000 alone. Included in this press release are various forward-looking statements which can be identified by the use of words such as "may," "will," "should," "seeks," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," and similar expressions. Pacific Internet has made forward-looking statements with respect to the following, among others, regional acquisition and expansion strategy; projected capital expenditures; development of services; development of additional revenue sources; development and maintenance of profitable pricing programs; and market acceptance of the Internet and technological advancement. These statements are forward-looking and reflect Pacific Internet's current expectations. They are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to, changes in the economic and political environment in the countries where Pacific Internet operates, or may in the future operate, changes in technology and the Internet marketplace. In light of the many risks and uncertainties surrounding Pacific Internet and the Internet marketplace, its actual results could differ materially from those discussed in this press release. |
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