GAITHERSBURG, MD – January 15, 2004 – Global eXchange Services, Inc., the B2B e-commerce software, services and solutions pioneer, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire HAHT Commerce, an award-winning provider of demand chain management applications.
Under terms of the agreement, Global eXchange Services will acquire all the capital stock of HAHT Commerce through a merger for approximately $30 million in a combination of cash and shares of GXS Holdings. GXS Holdings is the parent company of Global eXchange Services, Inc. The transaction is subject to the approval of HAHT Commerce’s shareholders and other conditions. Global eXchange Services expects the acquisition to be completed in February 2004.
The acquisition will bring together two providers of complementary B2B e-commerce solutions that help retailers, manufacturers and suppliers of all sizes to increase revenues, reduce costs, expand collaboration and expedite time-to-market for new products. The addition of HAHT Commerce will enable Global eXchange Services to provide businesses of all sizes with the industry’s most comprehensive solution for product information management (PIM) and data synchronization—enabling retailers, manufacturers and suppliers to manage product information from concept to consumer.
With this acquisition, Global eXchange Services will be able to deliver a complete solution suite that includes:
* software to integrate data into and out of back-end systems;
* management tools to publish and syndicate product information accurately;
* transaction delivery services to move the information; and
* community enablement to electronically connect all trading partners in the global retail supply chain.
“The retail industry sets the pace for the strategic use of technology to improve and redefine business processes,” said Global eXchange Services President and CEO Gary Greenfield. “This combination is all about improving the quality and consistency of product information data flowing throughout the retail community. Today, the lack of accurate product item information between buyers and sellers in the retail community is a significant and costly problem. By combining our products, services and staff resources, we’ll clearly establish ourselves as a ‘one stop shop’ to address this emerging multi-billion dollar opportunity.”
“HAHT Commerce is a catalyst for helping suppliers and retailers capitalize on the immense value of data synchronization to streamline vital business operations,” said Tom Thomas, chairman, president and CEO of HAHT Commerce. “By joining Global eXchange Services, we immediately benefit from its worldwide customer reach and broad transaction management capabilities to rapidly accelerate the adoption of our great software solutions. We’re delighted to become part of an organization that shares our vision and will take us and our customers to the next level.”
Global eXchange Services will rapidly integrate the following key components in its end-to-end data synchronization solution:
* Feature-Rich Product Information Management – The Product Information Management (PIM) solution of the HAHT Commerce Suite features a powerful UCCnet™-interoperable catalog capable of aggregating, organizing, structuring and managing item-related content. The PIM can aggregate data from multiple internal sources including leading ERP systems, create a scalable data repository (catalog) for centralized management, and optimize data flow to multiple destinations.
* Simple Syndication with UCCNet – HAHT Commerce’s Quick Connect Package is a fast and cost-effective entry point for suppliers and manufacturers seeking to leverage a machine-to-machine XML interface to synchronize items with retail partners through the UCCnet foundation service.
* Hosted Catalog Services and Data Pools – The Global eXchange Services Global Product Catalogue provides a multi-community, multi-industry data repository of more than 65 million line items, comprehensive trading partner profiles and synchronization services supporting over 17,000 trading partners.
* Rapid, Worldwide Community Enablement – From EDI to AS2 and XML formats, Global eXchange Services can on-board businesses to quickly and easily exchange product information electronically in more than 36 countries with multi-language support.
Additional applications from HAHT Commerce that will enhance Global eXchange Services’ end-to-end data synchronization solution include order management, business intelligence, customer services and channel management.
Data synchronization is a foundational requirement for all future B2B initiatives. According to the AMR Research report, Data Synchronization Has Simply Become a Cost of Doing Business, retailers and suppliers that take a proactive approach will gain a competitive differentiator over those that wait for business partners to drive them to participate. Moreover, companies that embark on B2B initiatives without the necessary data synchronization foundation will waste as much as $2.1 billion by 2008.
CIBC World Markets Corp. acted as exclusive financial advisor to HAHT Commerce with respect to the transaction.
