SAP, Achilles Information and Requisite Technology To Create First U.K. Utilities Online Marketplace.

Business Editors and High Tech Writers

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 23, 2000

Subscribing Utilities and Suppliers Brought Together in

Collaborative E-Business Environment

SAP U.K., a subsidiary of SAP AG (NYSE ADR: SAP), the leading provider of inter-enterprise software solutions, together with Achilles Information Ltd. and Requisite Technology, Inc., today announced an initial agreement to develop the first global electronic business-to-business portal for the U.K. utilities sector. The technology infrastructure will be provided by mySAP.com(TM) Marketplace, the open collaborative business-to-business hub from SAP.

Achilles Information Ltd. is a leading provider of services to public- and private-sector procurement professionals. The new marketplace will enhance Achilles' unique Utilities Vendor Database (UVDB(TM)), the defacto standard information source in this market, to develop a global online network bringing U.K. utility companies together with their suppliers. The mySAP.com Marketplace for the U.K. utilities industry will enable participants to exchange information, select and collaborate more closely with suppliers (within the framework of EC procurement guidelines) and buy products and services.

"I am thrilled at the progress that Achilles has made and believe that the agreement with SAP and Requisite will bring substantial benefits to buyers and suppliers," said Peter Wrapson of Seeboard plc (a major U.K. Energy Company), who is also chair of the UVDB Steering Group.

"The Marketplace has a major role to play in driving cost out of the procurement process within the utilities sector," said Colin Maund, managing director of Achilles. "Intense competition, plus the pressures of satisfying both regulators and shareholders, means that utility companies must ensure all processes are as efficient and cost-effective as possible. We believe that the combination of our industry knowledge and contacts with the technical innovation of SAP and Requisite will deliver major business benefits to both buyers and suppliers in this sector."

Requisite Technology, the worldwide leader in electronic catalog content management, will build and maintain the portal catalog, allowing participating utilities to access information from suppliers and conduct online transactions from their desktops. Requisite's BugsEye(TM) catalogue finding technology will enable highly accurate end-user searches using intuitive natural language.

"Achilles is well positioned to be the transactional hub for the entire U.K. utilities industry," said Barbara Mowry, president and CEO of Requisite. "With the rapid proliferation of marketplaces worldwide, we are seeing again and again that catalog content is the keystone of buyer and supplier interaction. Requisite will contribute its international content expertise and is delighted that the market has again acknowledged catalog content management as a key infrastructure component for B2B marketplaces."

"The mySAP.com solution provides a true collaborative business environment, allowing suppliers and customers to conduct transactions in an open, standards-based electronic business marketplace, reducing costs and increasing business efficiency," said Hans-Peter Klaey, managing director of SAP U.K. "As such, it provides the perfect framework for industry-specific e-business portals such as Achilles' Utilities Marketplace. SAP has already announced mySAP.com Marketplaces designed for the global chemical, pharmaceutical, and oil and gas industries. Banks, telecommunications companies and many other industries are also adopting mySAP.com as the foundation of their e-business strategy."

About Achilles Group

The privately owned Achilles Group of companies is Europe's leading provider of supplier and contract management information. Achilles administers content on behalf of specific industry sectors including the oil and gas, utilities (electricity, water and telecommunications) transport and public sectors.

Achilles services are used by more than 400 major purchasing organizations in Europe and over 14,000 suppliers are qualified on the various sector schemes. The estimated annual spending of organizations using the database services for supplier selection amounts to over $50 billion.

Achilles uniquely combines skilled database management, procurement expertise, sector knowledge and Internet software development to provide market-leading software and critical supplier content to purchasers. Buying and selling organisations benefit from significantly reduced costs in the provision and maintenance of constantly updated information available across the Internet.

The Achilles Group has offices in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Spain and Venezuela and employs more than 150 staff. For more information visit http://www.achilles.com.

About Requisite Technology, Inc.

Requisite Technology Inc., based in Westminster, Colo., is a leading provider of catalog content management solutions and catalog finding technology for large buying organizations, Net Marketplaces, and their suppliers. With worldwide operations in the United States, Toronto and London, Requisite's solutions are deployed on hundreds of thousands of desktops in more than 15 countries. Requisite was the recipient of the national Incubator Graduate of the Year Award in the technology category in 1999. The company was also recently recognised as a "Hot Company" for its growth, global impact and influence on changing the economy by both dbusiness.com and the Boulder Chamber of Commerce, and by Oracle Corporation as one of four companies worldwide for "Most Innovative eBusiness Solution Developer on Oracle."

About SAP

As the market leader of inter-enterprise software solutions, SAP is leveraging its strength in industry-focused business software and the world's largest enterprise software customer base to deliver mySAP.com. mySAP.com provides an open collaborative business environment of personalized solutions on demand. This enables companies of all sizes and industries to fully engage their employees, customers and partners to capitalize upon the new Internet economy. mySAP.com allows people to harness the power of the Internet to work smarter, better and faster by optimizing supply chains, managing strategic relationships, reducing time to market, sharing virtual information, and increasing productivity and shareholder value. SAP is listed on several exchanges including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol "SAP." The SAP World Wide Web site can be found at http://www.sap.com.

SAP, mySAP.com and all SAP product and service names referenced herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries. All other products mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.