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Exhibit 99.1
Contacts: Investors/Analysts Media
Yumi Asahara Gretchen Sorensen
Director, Investor Relations VP, Corporate Affairs
Onvia.com Onvia.com
206.373.9255 206.373.9082
ONVIA AGREES TO ACQUIRE ONLINE GOVERNMENT CONTRACT PROCUREMENT SERVICE
Merger with Globe-1 to Expand Onvia Exchange
to Over One Million Small Businesses and Provide Access to Lucrative
Government Contracts
SEATTLE - July 26, 2000 - Onvia.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: ONVI) the leading business-
to-business exchange for small business buyers and sellers, today announced that
it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Globe-1, Incorporated for 2.85
million shares of Onvia common stock. Based on the Tuesday, July 25, 2000
closing price of $9.375 per share, the consideration for the transaction is
approximately $26.7 million.
Globe-1 is a leading government-to-business exchange that provides procurement
services by electronically distributing more than 20,000 government agency bid
solicitations and notices each month to targeted companies in its vendor pool of
more than 450,000 companies. Globe-1 is contracted to serve government agencies
in major U. S. cities including Austin, Atlanta, New York, Miami, Chicago, Los
Angeles, Seattle, Phoenix, Milwaukee and San Francisco. Its blue chip client
list also includes the State of Texas, State of Georgia, the U.S. Department of
Commerce, and the U.S. Department of Defense.
Today, there are more than 100,000 government purchasing agencies in the U.S.,
the great majority of which do not have access to a small business exchange. The
Globe-1 trading hub will reduce costs and information hurdles for government
buyers who purchase goods and services from small, minority and disadvantaged
firms.
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"The acquisition of Globe-1 is consistent with our strategy to pursue
acquisitions that enhance our offering while driving us to profitability at an
accelerated rate," stated Glenn Ballman, CEO of Onvia. "This transaction
provides Onvia with a fee-based high margin revenue stream through licensing and
ASP fees from the government agencies, as well as subscription, transaction and
maintenance fees from the small business vendors who participate in the
exchange."
"Globe-1's merger with Onvia will catapult us to the forefront of the
government-to-business procurement arena, saving government buyers millions in
procurement related expenses," stated Robert Gilmore, Globe-1 founder and CEO.
"Onvia is now well positioned to service the government-to-small business space
by building, hosting and maintaining an open government-to-business exchange,
where agencies will be able to view vendor catalogs of their core suppliers, and
search outside their vendor pool, if necessary. The exchange will also link
their purchasing and payment systems to close the transaction loop on non-
competitive procurements."
Globe-1's benefits are already widely recognized by government agencies at all
levels. "Globe-1 has managed thousands of procurement opportunities for our
Agency, estimated at more than $5 billion," stated Melda Cabrera, regional
director of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development
Agency in San Francisco. "Small and minority business owners now receive
thousands of contract opportunities that would have otherwise been lost."
Once implemented, Onvia's 562,000 registered users will have access to billions
in additional government procurement opportunities. Similarly, with this new
connection to Onvia's exchange, Globe-1's supplier base of 450,000 businesses
will gain access to a much larger regional buyer base and the opportunity to
electronically bid and secure many additional procurement contracts through
Onvia's popular Request for Quote service. Onvia will also provide Globe-1's
suppliers with seller services in its Web hosting and Catalog Hosting systems.
Onvia expects the merger to be immediately accretive to earnings and to enhance
gross profit margins. The companies expect to complete the transaction, which
is structured as a merger and is being accounted for as a purchase, by early
August. The completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing
conditions.
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About Onvia.com
Onvia.com headquartered in Seattle, is the leading business-to-business exchange
for small business buyers and sellers. Onvia helps small businesses succeed by
aggregating demand and providing an exchange where small businesses can buy and
sell services and products, exchange valuable news, product and service
information and access productivity tools. For more information, contact
Onvia.com: 1260 Mercer Street, Seattle, WA 98109. Phone: 206-282-5170. Web:
www.onvia.com.
Onvia to WEBCAST Acquisition Announcement
Onvia will broadcast its conference call in conjunction with the announcement of
this acquisition live over the Internet at 1:30 p.m. PDT, 4:30 p.m. EDT. Today,
July 26, 2000. Glenn Ballman, chief executive officer and Mark Calvert, chief
financial officer will lead the call.
Please visit the "Investor Relations" section at www.corporate.onvia.com and
click on the microphone icon to register, test connections and obtain any
necessary software. Participants may submit questions prior to the broadcast by
e-mailing [email protected].
For those unable to participate during the live Webcast, the call will be
archived on the Web site for future reference.
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the
"safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These statements are based on management's current expectations or beliefs
and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking
statements. The forward-looking statements in this release address the following
subjects: future financial and operating results of Onvia and Globe-1; new
markets and products and service offerings; and timing and benefits of the
Globe-1 acquisition.
The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ
materially from those described in the forward-looking statements: inability to
obtain, or meet conditions imposed for the Globe-1 acquisition; the risk that
Onvia and Globe-1 businesses will not be integrated successfully; costs related
to the merger; fluctuating market prices that could cause difficulties in
Onvia's acquisition strategies; the difficulty the market may have in valuing
Onvia's and Globe-1's business model; the failure of Onvia to relize anticipated
benefits of the Globe-1 acquisition; Onvia's inability to manage its expansion;
inability to further identify, develop and achieve commercial success for new
products and services and access and distribution technologies; increased
competition and its effects on pricing, spending, third-party relationships, the
customer
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and subscriber base and revenues; inability to establish and maintain
relationships with commerce, advertising, marketing, technology and content
providers; and risks of new and changing regulation in the US and
internationally.
For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer
to the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, especially
the Risk Factors section of the Company's Prospectus that became effective in
February 2000.
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