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EXHIBIT 99.1
Spatial Technology Inc. Changes Name to PlanetCAD Inc. and Announces Sale of
Component Software Division
BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 14, 2000--Spatial Technology
Inc./PlanetCAD (AMEX:STY)(Nasdaq:DASTY):
Divestiture Increases Focus On Growth Market Areas
in the Manufacturing Supply Chain
Spatial Inc. (AMEX:STY), the world's leading developer of Web-hosted engineering
application services and interoperability solutions for manufacturers, today
announced that it has changed its name to PlanetCAD Inc. and has completed the
sale of its Component Software Division to Dassault Systemes.
The company, now known as PlanetCAD(TM), will focus on its proprietary Web-based
services and enterprise solutions that streamline the flow and communication of
engineering data throughout the manufacturing supply chain. The company will
change its AMEX ticker symbol from "STY" to "PCD" to reflect the name change.
The company changed its name to PlanetCAD in connection with the sale of its
Component Software Division to France-based Dassault Systemes (Nasdaq:DASTY), a
premier developer of design and engineering software. Under the terms of the
deal, the Component Software Division retained the name Spatial and became an
indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Dassault Systemes. The company's PlanetCAD
Division was not sold in the transaction and continues to operate as an
independent company under the name PlanetCAD Inc.
"PlanetCAD's expertise in developing and selling Web-based interoperability
solutions for the manufacturing supply chain, along with its focus on enterprise
solutions, will be a powerful combination for success," said Bernard Charles,
president of Dassault Systemes. "Our growing relationship with PlanetCAD will
help us provide our customers with state-of-the-art solutions for engineering
data interchange."
PlanetCAD will continue to develop its relationships with both Dassault Systemes
and Dassault Systemes' new Spatial subsidiary under a number of cross-licensing
agreements. Under these agreements:
-- PlanetCAD will have a perpetual source code license agreement for
Spatial's component technologies.
-- PlanetCAD and Spatial will share the intellectual property rights to
Spatial's healing and translation technologies, and will jointly
develop and enhance those technologies.
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-- Dassault Systemes plans to resell Enterprise versions of PlanetCAD Web
services.
-- PlanetCAD will provide Dassault Systemes with a co-branded version of
its 3Dshare.com Web service for CAD model interoperability for use on
Dassault Systemes' Web sites worldwide.
-- Dassault Systemes and PlanetCAD will cooperate to bring advanced
applications from Dassault to the PlanetCAD.com Web site as new
customer services.
"One of the biggest benefits of this agreement is the ongoing relationship
PlanetCAD will enjoy with Dassault Systemes," said Bruce Morgan, president and
CEO of PlanetCAD. "Dassault Systemes is the premier developer of process centric
CAD/CAM/CAE software in the world. As such, we believe it is the best home for
Spatial's Component Software Division because it has the resources and
commitment to develop those products and services. Dassault Systemes will also
be a strategic partner for PlanetCAD in the development, distribution and
marketing of our new generation interoperability products and Web services."
In addition to its relationships with Dassault Systemes and Spatial, PlanetCAD
has established partnerships with other well-respected companies in the
industry, including Tecnomatix, SAIC, CAD/CAM Publishing, Alibre and CADKey.
PlanetCAD's July 2000 acquisition of Prescient Technologies Inc. added the
respected PrescientQA(R) suite of quality assurance products to PlanetCAD's
family of interoperability products and services.
"PlanetCAD's innovative use of Web technology will facilitate the process of
connecting customers with service bureaus in the fast-paced world of rapid
prototyping and custom manufacturing," said Bruce Okkema, president of Eagle
Design & Technology Inc. "Through online quoting and data exchange, we will be
able to offer our services to a much broader base than we would normally have
access to. It will be much easier for the engineering community to quickly
connect with the service providers they need."
PlanetCAD started as a division of Spatial Technology Inc. in January 2000,
following successful research and development proving the viability of Internet
technology to streamline the flow of engineering data throughout manufacturing
processes. The sale of the Component Software Division means that PlanetCAD will
now have resources to focus entirely on its growing business areas, working from
an already established customer base for enterprise solution sales. In addition,
the PlanetCAD.com Web site, which was launched in June 2000, has already signed
up more than 9,000 registered users, and has four engineering application
services available. The Enterprise and Web services combine to offer customers a
powerful set of options for the movement of engineering data reflecting their
requirements for security, availability and affordability.
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"PlanetCAD helps make my company's injection molding, tool design and tool
production services seamless," said Christopher Brizes, president of Royal
Plastics Inc. "Our customers can provide data in any format they choose, and I
can take the data with very little interpretation or translation and manipulate
it into any other format, all without owning actual CAD software."
PlanetCAD develops and offers Web- and enterprise-hosted application services
designed to accelerate the flow of design data through the manufacturing supply
chain. PlanetCAD has developed proprietary technologies that enable the rapid
delivery, distribution and hosting of complex engineering software services
across the Internet. Among those services are:
-- 3Dshare(TM) -- provides online translation and repair of 3D CAD models
to streamline the flow of engineering data between organizations
regardless of the installed CAD systems.
-- Bits2PARTS(TM) -- streamlines the communication and data transmission
process between manufacturers and rapid prototyping service bureaus
across the Web.
-- DesignQA(TM) -- reduces costly design errors, accelerates
time-to-market and improves the product development process.
-- DriveQA(R) -- acquires, summarizes, analyzes, reports and depicts
engineering quality metrics.
-- CertifyQA(TM) -- ensures that CAD models achieve an acceptable quality
level before being made ready for revision or use.
-- Quote-A-Part(TM) -- generates fast and accurate cost estimates for
machined parts.
-- 3Dpublish(TM) -- enables online, automated capture of high-resolution
2D graphics from 3D CAD models.
-- IntraVISION(R) -- provides enterprise-wide or Internet access to all
major 2D and 3D product data for viewing, markup, measuring, and
converting more than 300 file formats.
About PlanetCAD Inc.
PlanetCAD develops and delivers Web-hosted and enterprise-based application
services, and e-commerce sites for streamlining engineering data interchange
throughout the digital manufacturing supply chain. PlanetCAD's application
services include the PrescientQA(R) design-quality engineering software suite,
which reduces costly design errors, accelerates time-to-market,
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and improves the product development process; 3Dshare.com(TM) (www.3dshare.com),
which provides online translation and repair of 3D CAD models to streamline the
flow of engineering data between organizations regardless of installed CAD
systems; 3Dpublish.com(TM) (www.3dpublish.com), for the online, automated
capture of high-resolution 2D graphics from 3D CAD models; and Bits2PARTS(TM)
(www.bits2parts.com), an e-commerce service that streamlines the communication
and data transmission process between manufacturers and rapid prototyping
service bureaus across the Web; and IntraVISION(R), which enables viewing,
markup, measuring and converting of more than 300 CAD file formats over the
Internet without downloading.
PlanetCAD is headquartered in Boulder, Colo. and has offices in Boston and the
United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.planetcad.com, or call
888/319-0871.
Statements made in this news release that are not historical facts may be
forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those
projected in any forward-looking statement, and any projections related to
3Dhare.com and PlanetCAD.com may be significantly different than those predicted
by the company. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those anticipated by any forward-looking
information. A description of risks and uncertainties attendant to the company
and its industry, and other factors which could affect the company's financial
results, are included in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission
filings, including, but not limited to, the company's annual report on Form
10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 1999.
PlanetCAD, 3Dshare.com, 3Dpublish.com, Bits2Parts, and PlanetCAD Connect are
trademarks of PlanetCAD Inc. IntraVISION and Prescient QA are registered
trademarks. All other products are trademarks of their respective owners.
CONTACT: PlanetCAD, Boulder
Rachael Dalton-Taggart, 303/209-9252
[email protected]
or
PlanetCAD Public Relations:
Metzger Associates
Bill Tompkins, 303/786-7000
[email protected]
or
PlanetCAD Investor Relations:
Pfeiffer Public Relations
Geoff High, 303/393-7044
[email protected]
or
PlanetCAD UK Public Relations:
Practical PR
David Allen, 44 (0) 171-328-1991
[email protected]
