VerticalNet Nearly Finished With Facelift

There’s a new president and chief executive officer handling the day-to-day
activities of retooled VerticalNet Inc. , a company
that spent most of 2001 shedding unprofitable divisions from its operations
and finding a new business model.

The changes come just as the company gets ready to show off its new look to
investors and the business world after completing it’s metamorphosis to a
enterprise software and outsourcing specialist.

Kevin McKay, one of VerticalNet’s board of directors and former SAP America
chief executive officer, is now president and chief executive officer in
place of Michael Hagan, who’s been acting chief since the noisy defection
of Joseph Galli in January 2001.

“Having actively served on the VerticalNet board and audit committee, I am
familiar with the company’s strong management team, impressed by its unique
technology assets, and excited about the opportunity to extend my
contributions by taking charge of a company so clearly positioned for
growth,” he said.

Hagan, a VerticalNet co-founder, assumes the board of director’s
chairmanship, replacing Mark Walsh. Walsh (the other co-founder) will
remain on the board, but in a diminished capacity; he plans to spend more of his
time as chief technology officer for the Democratic National Committee.

In related news, Horsham, Pa.’s VerticalNet last week installed John Milana, former Atlas
Commerce chief financial officer, as its new CFO. Verticalnet acquired
Atlas in December 2001 to fulfill the company’s goal of becoming an
enterprise software company capable of outsourcing its applications.

Tuesday’s news signals the last phase in the company’s nearly universal
facelift from a year ago, when it’s high-profile chief executive officer
fled nearly two weeks before the world found VerticalNet would cut
staff and restructure.

Hagan took over daily operations and has been quietly retooling his
company’s image. Immediately cutting 150
“redundant” jobs, mostly from an overlap in responsibilities created thanks
to 22 acquisitions in two year, he also announced the company’s intention
to streamline operations and to become an enterprise software provider.

Almost immediately, VerticalNet secured
deals pleasing to investors, though revenues gains were
marginal in 2001 ($125.6 million in 2001, up from $112.5 million in 2000).

The small- to medium-sized business unit division was sold off to pay for
expenses, while VerticalNet got to work acquiring Atlas Commerce, which was
finalized in January for $24 million.

According to Hagan, he is happy to hand the reins to McKay, a 20-year
software industry veteran and the perfect man to bring Verticalnet to the
next level.

“With our recent acquisition of Atlas Commerce and the proposed sale of our
SMB unit, VerticalNet is entering into the final phase of the business
transformation I put in place almost two years ago: to successfully
leverage this company’s most powerful assets to become a leading
collaborative supply chain software provider with a brand-name clientele
and a high growth trajectory,” he said.