Continuing its push into the business-to-business (B2B) Internet market, ePlus inc. is acquiring the commercial technology business assets of ProcureNet, Inc., for $1 million in cash plus approximately 422,500 shares of unregistered common stock. The transaction, structured as an asset purchase agreement, has been approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to close May 15.
The primary assets acquired include OneSource, an e-procurement software solution; MarketBuilder, a marketplace software solution; Common Language Generator software, used for e-content cleaning and enrichment; several registered and applied for patents, trademarks, and copyrights; the entire commercial and municipal customer list, including more than 70 active licensees; all reseller and partnership agreements and related contracts; and key personnel, including development, sales, marketing, and implementation staffs.
The Great River, N.Y.-based ProcureNet and ePlus will resell each other’s best-in-class services and technologies. For example, ePlus will be able to resell ProcureNet’s spot buying and logistics and fulfillment services, and ProcureNet will be able to resell Manage+, ePlus’s asset management service.
The customers acquired from ProcureNet are commercial and municipal enterprises, including Forbes, Inc., Summit Bank, World Savings, CMS Energy, Amica Mutual Insurance, Emory University, Western and Southern Life Insurance Company, Santa Clara, and Fresno County.
“This acquisition significantly broadens our suite of end-to-end solutions and enhances our competitive position in the market,” said Phillip G. Norton, chairman, president and chief executive officer of ePlus. “We are gaining a mature and leading edge technology solution, a blue chip customer base, and experienced individuals with extensive domain expertise.”
The Herndon, Va.-based ePlus provides hosted Web-based e-procurement, asset management, and financing solutions. The company has more than 170 customers, including over 100 implemented customers. Founded in 1990, ePlus has more than 20 locations in the U.S.
“ProcureNet has been a leader in providing procurement solutions to commercial, federal, and municipal customers, generating and enriching MRO content for a wide variety of vendors, and completing complex ERP integrations in both the licensed and ASP model. These capabilities will expand our end-to-end solution and help us continue to deliver best-of-breed solutions to our customers,” Norton added.