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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 3, 2000
CORPORATE CONTACTS: J. Christopher Corsbie
Director, Marketing Communications
and Media Relations
561/581-6035
[email protected]
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Melinda Wilken
RightWorks
408-882-0350 x120
[email protected]
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INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT: Mandy Haagenson
Fleishman-Hillard
404-659-4446, ext. 148
[email protected]
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eMERGE INTERACTIVE MAKES MAJOR MOVE
TO EXPAND ITS ONLINE MARKETPLACE
Licensing agreement for RightWorks B2B exchange software
supports eMerge's plans for aggressive online growth
and transformation of U.S. cattle business
SEBASTIAN, FL, April 3, 2000 - Beef-business e-commerce pioneer eMerge
Interactive, Inc. (EMRG) announced today that it has licensed RightWorks B2B
exchange software for powering digital marketplaces. eMerge will use the
RightWorks 5.0 platform
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as the core technology to drive aggressive expansion of its already well-
established online marketplace for the nation's cattle industry.
"RightWorks represents the next step in meeting our objective of
transforming America's cattle industry," said eMerge Chief Executive Officer
Chuck Abraham. "It will serve as a far more powerful engine for delivering our
marketplace services to all segments of the beef-supply chain, including more
than a million American cattle producers."
eMerge's online exchange currently brings together thousands of cattle
buyers and sellers through its CattleinfoNet portal, he pointed out. "Our
products and services are already being used by more than 50 percent of the
nation's top 200 feedyards, which control 65 percent of the U.S. cattle market.
Very simply, we needed more power to accommodate our growth; and now, with
RightWorks, we're positioned to expand this marketplace exponentially."
eMerge selected RightWorks only after an extensive evaluation of a number
of available solutions, according to Arvind Subramanian, Executive Vice
President, Marketing and E-business.
"First, RightWorks' technology is exceptionally robust, proven and
scalable. That's critical because CattleinfoNet already hosts the industry's
largest online inventory of cattle while serving as a source of general and
proprietary information for thousands of beef-business professionals. So we're
anticipating that our online marketplace will facilitate huge transaction
volumes as it grows."
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Just as important, Subramanian said, it's the most buyer-friendly platform
available. "That makes it a perfect fit for our customers, whose businesses
require that they spend less time at their computers than their counterparts in
other industries."
Abraham said that this B2B exchange platform will power not only the
company's online marketplace, but will also leverage the information captured by
its producer and feedyard information-management solutions to benefit vendors
and customers alike.
"This licensing agreement will give us the opportunity to direct individual
customers to the products and services they use every day, as well as to others
that might make their businesses more profitable," he said. "And they'll be able
to access it all from a single web site."
A pilot marketplace will be open for business to a limited number of buyers
and suppliers within 90 days, Subramanian said, with full roll-out scheduled for
the third quarter of this year. Negotiations are underway with a select group of
progressive suppliers who are eager to expand their market reach and to
capitalize on the wealth of buyer information available only through this
marketplace.
"The RightWorks platform is designed to take full advantage of everything
the Internet stands for: universal access and ease of use," said Vani Kola,
RightWorks CEO and founder. "eMerge is remarkable in that, with RightWorks,
they are bringing the richness of the digital marketplace experience to a
trading community that is beginning to embrace this technology at an accelerated
pace."
This agreement between two companies associated with Internet Capital Group
(ICG) is significant, Abraham added.
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"In October of 1999, ICG acquired an interest in eMerge, and last month ICG
entered into an agreement to acquire a majority interest in RightWorks," he
said. "Our licensing agreement underscores the value of ICG's uniquely
collaborative network of B2B e-commerce companies."
About eMerge Interactive
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eMerge Interactive is a next-generation business-to-business e-commerce company
whose goal is to transform the cattle industry by lowering costs, improving beef
safety and quality, and enhancing animal welfare. Toward these ends, it has
harnessed the power of advanced technologies to eliminate inefficiencies in the
supply chain, improve cattle health and genetics management, and enable
electronic source and process verification. Its tools include the world's most
well-established online cattle-auction service, state-of-the-art information-
management systems, and exclusive online content and analysis, all accessible at
www.cattleinfonet.com. In addition, the company is pioneering leading-edge
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technologies to improve cattle health and enhance the safety of our nation's
beef supply. With headquarters in Sebastian, Florida, and offices across the
U.S., eMerge Interactive can be reached at 561-589-5310 or at
www.emergeinteractive.com.
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About RightWorks
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Founded in 1996, RightWorks is the leading provider of e-procurement software
for powering the B2B exchanges that lie at the heart of digital marketplaces
across the Internet. RightWorks offers an extensive range of capabilities that
are being adopted by
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both vertical market makers and corporate market makers, as well as corporations
implementing e-procurement solutions - all of which are available as in-house or
hosted solutions. RightWorks 5.0, the latest release of the company's flagship
product, is architected to take advantage of the dynamic and distributed nature
of the Internet with innovations such as an open "many-to-many" trading
platform, Universal Network Content(TM), and Business Personalization(TM).
RightWorks customers represent a wide range of markets and include companies
such as CSC, Embion, FacilityPro.com, ShopNow.com, VerticalNet, Wells Fargo Bank
and others. RightWorks is a privately held company backed by Sequoia Capital and
others. Based in San Jose, Calif., RightWorks can be reached at 408.882.0350 and
at www.rightworks.com.
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Safe Harbor Statement under Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are
forward-looking statements that involve certain risks and uncertainties
including but not limited to risks associated with the uncertainty of future
performance of partner companies of ICG, acquisitions by ICG of interests in
additional partner companies, additional financing requirements of ICG, the
effect of economic conditions in the B2B e-commerce market and other
uncertainties detailed in ICG's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
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