Chell Merchant Capital Group (Nasdaq: CHEL) announced today (Jan 18) that it has entered into an agreement with ASP enabler ApplicationStation.com Inc. to purchase approximately 12.75 percent of the company for a purchase price of US$1,020,000. The two companies announced an alliance on October 17, 2000. On the same day, Chell Merchant Capital Group’s president and CEO, Cameron Chell, announced his personal investment in ApplicationStation.
“My personal investment in ApplicationStation.com Inc. three months ago reflected my confidence in the vision of the company’s senior management and its proprietary software,” Chell said. “This current investment through our public vehicle, indicates the board’s confidence that this relationship will help us to deliver on our long term business goal of buying or developing proprietary technologies so that we can leverage our e-commerce, on-line and ASP assets into acquisitions of companies in other sectors.”
ApplicationStation operates as a pure-play ASP enabler focusing on the packaging, delivery and management of hosted application solutions delivered over the Internet or a private network. ApplicationStation’s primary target market is the Global 2000 and Network Service Providers, including telcos, ISPs and cable companies.
ApplicationStation has developed a proprietary ASP distribution and management system, called App2, that allows for universal authentication and login for all applications being distributed, manages the launch of any type of application and enables customer organizations to self-manage their application rights against a contract, greatly reducing the need for support services and related infrastructure.
“With the combined experience of ApplicationStation.com’s team and the track record the Chell Merchant Capital Group has on the business and financing side of the ASP Industry we have put together a considerable force in the ASP industry!” stated Jim Pennington, founder and CEO of ApplicationStation. ” We look forward to working closely with Cameron and his team to bring forth the next generation of ASP services, technologies and customer acquisition strategies.”
The Chell Group Corporation, operating as the Chell Merchant Capital Group, is in the business of applying new economy technologies to new and existing businesses. Its goal is to build or transform the businesses to compete and dominate a market space and create wealth for shareholders. Company president and CEO Cameron Chell founded FutureLink Corp., one of the world’s first ASPs, as well as the ASP Industry Consortium; and co-founded security ASP JAWZ.
The Chell Merchant Capital Group is comprised of a team of international professionals specialized in the areas of technology, finance, investor relations, public relations, marketing and human resources. The current portfolio of companies includes: Engyro, cDemo, NTN Interactive Network Inc., Magic Lantern Communications Ltd., GalaVu Entertainment Network Inc. and Interlynx Multimedia Inc.
ApplicationStation is a full-service ASP founded in February 2000 by E. James Pennington, founder and former chief of innovation at ASP Learningstation.com. ApplicationStation currently has offices in Sydney, Australia; Toronto, Canada; and London, England; with corporate headquarters in Bellingham, Washington. Customers include BT, Sasktel, BDO, Jetset Travel and Australian Auto Partners. ApplicationStation also operates joint ventures with Learningstation.com in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK.
On Tuesday, Chell announced that it has withdrawn its proposal to enter into an agreement to purchase Software Spectrum (NASDAQ:SSPE), which was made on a confidential basis in December. Chell Merchant Capital Group provid
ed the board of directors of Software Spectrum with a proposal to enter into an agreement whereby Chell Merchant Capital Group would purchase all of the outstanding shares at a price of $16 per share with a minimum of $11 per share paid in cash. The offer was withdrawn due to refusal by the board of directors to meet or engage in any conversations with the representatives of Chell Merchant Capital Group, Chell officials said.
On Wednesday, Chell reporting financial results for the quarter ending November 30, 2000. Chell recorded revenues of $5,002,569 and a net loss of $3,280,389 or $0.39 per share for the quarter. “The integration of Chell Merchant Capital Group and Networks North was completed in the Fall 2000 and we are now poised to exploit our combined assets,” Chell said. “The loss for the quarter was within management’s expectations and is part of our strategy to incur all possible write-offs and one-time charges as soon as possible. We are implementing our strategy of acquiring companies that can migrate and leverage into the online software/ASP sector. These acquisitions will work in conjunction with our proprietary technologies to create a dominant enabling force in this sector.”