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EXHIBIT 99.1
PRESS RELEASE
VFINANCE COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF FIRST LEVEL CAPITAL, INC. AND MERGER WITH
COLONIAL DIRECT FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 4, 2001--
- Deals Create Financial Services Powerhouse with $30 Million in Revenue -
vFinance, Inc. (OTCBB:VFIN) the leading "clicks and mortar" financial services
firm, announced today that it has completed its acquisition of First Level
Capital and its merger with Colonial Direct Financial Group, Inc. The
combination creates a financial services firm capable of offering a unique mix
of traditional public and private investment opportunities. As a result of these
transactions, vFinance is projected to have annualized pro forma revenue of $30
million while generating operating profits in 2001.
First Level is an investment banking and financial services firm that
specializes in offering private placement investment opportunities to high net
worth individuals. Colonial Direct is a leading retail brokerage and investment
banking firm with $800 million in assets under management, 13,000 customers and
14 offices nationwide.
"vFinance, through the medium of the Internet, has created an 'investment
banking channel' which demystifies the process of capital raising while offering
the high net worth individual investment opportunities that today are only
available to large financial institutions," said Leonard J. Sokolow, CEO of
vFinance. "We believe that the combined resources of these three firms furthers
our leadership position as the innovator in the financial services industry by
elevating the standards for serving high net worth investors."
Under the terms of the deal, vFinance will issue securities equivalent to
approximately 8 million shares of its common stock to acquire 100% of the
outstanding shares of Colonial Direct and First Level.
CLICKS & MORTAR: ADVANTAGES FOR ALL THREE FIRMS
"Because our website, vfinance.com, is the leading destination on the Internet
for companies in search of private equity, we attract a large audience of
`Angel' investors looking for deal flow," Sokolow added, "We now have the
ability to establish an ongoing business relationship with those high net worth
investors. They will be offered ongoing access to private investments via
Colonial Direct's premier retail brokerage services."
In turn, wealthy investors visiting vFinance.com will enjoy access to Colonial
Direct's retail brokerage services that include its proprietary online
investment management system, retirement and asset management products.
"To stay competitive in the retail brokerage business you need to offer products
and services to your clients that they cannot get from the big firms or the
online trading mills," stated Michael Golden, Chairman & CEO of Colonial Direct.
"It is clear that by integrating our businesses we will be able to offer high
net worth investors access to quality private equity investments that the major
brokerage firms only offer to institutional players."
ABOUT VFINANCE.COM
vFinance, Inc. (OTCBB:VFIN) is a financial services company that provides
investment banking, consulting and brokerage services. The company's Website is
an online investment banking center that attracts over one million high net
worth investors and CEOs annually. This huge audience produces the "clicks" that
fuel VFIN's branded business units (the mortar). By acquiring firms capable of
offering high margin, profitable services to leads generated from the
vFinance.com web portal, the Company has become a unique new force in the
financial services industry.
This release contains forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant to the
safe-harbor provisions of the private securities litigation reform act of 1995.
Expressions of future goals and similar expressions reflecting something other
than historical fact are intended to identify forward-looking statements, but
are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. These
forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, some of
which are out of the control of the Company. Accordingly, the company's actual
results could differ materially from those discussed in this release. A wide
variety of factors could cause or contribute to such differences and could
adversely impact revenues, profitability, cash flows and capital needs. A more
complete listing of cautionary statements and risk factors is contained in the
company's report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company
undertakes no obligations
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to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or
circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.
CONTACT: Tilson Communications, Boca Raton
Media Contact:
Mary Hightower, 561/417-7907
[email protected]
or
The Del Mar Consulting Group, Inc.
Investor Contact:
Robert B. Prag, 858/794-9500
[email protected]
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