MarketCentral.net Buys E-mail Security Firm

New York-based MarketCentral.net Corp., a firm which sells financial products and services on the Web, said it would purchase e-mail security play FCOM Inc. in an all-stock transaction.

MarketCentral (OTCBB:MKTS) said it would exchange approximately 2.5 million new shares of its common stock in exchange for all issued and outstanding shares of FCOM, a privately-held company which builds Internet-based e-mail attachment technology.

MarketCentral currently has approximately 6.3 million shares outstanding on a fully diluted basis. Other terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

As part of the transaction, MarketCentral intends to turn over control of the day-to-day operations to FCOM chairman Paul Taylor, who will be named chief executive officer.

The purchase of FCOM gives MarketCentral a valuable arm for its distribution of finance-related content on the ‘Net. Among other things, FCOM’s technology allows secure, shreddible e-mail attachment components, which provides e-mail privacy and security.

“The components provide ultimate e-mail privacy and security for the SoHo & SMB markets as well as a proven method for publishers or media vendors of all types to safely distribute
copyright content and dictate the lifespan and/or replication of the content,” Taylor said in a statement.

“Additionally, this transaction will allow MarketCentral to benefit from FCOM’s access to the capital markets and will afford it a stronger currency for certain strategic acquisitions whose funding, growth and market penetration have been stymied by recent US market conditions,” he added.

The subscription-based software allows users to access the service through any Internet Service Provider (ISP).

“We believe that all Internet users deserve total e-mail and attached document privacy, the same privacy we have taken for granted with US mail and all major courier companies. There are certainly clear advantages when businesses and individuals can remotely destroy e-mails
and attachments ‘after’ they have been sent to recipients,” Taylor added.

MarketCentral, which depends on advertising for the bulk of its revenues, operates a “gateway site” targeting investors looking for financial products and services online. The company’s products include newsletters, investment software and research data.

Shares in MarketCentral, which were trading in the $7.00 range last March, were unchanged at 51 cents this morning. The company has a market cap of $2.2 million.