Marchfirst kriegt 150 $ Mill. Dollar!! - 500 Beiträge pro Seite

[derfriend]

MarchFirst: Liquidität vorerst gesichert

Der Internet-Berater und Web Designer MarchFirst erhält eine Kapitalspritze von der Venture-Kapitalgesellschaft Francisco Partners in Höhe von $150 Mio. Im Gegenzug erhält der Investor Vorzugsaktien. Im Detail wird Francisco Partners 63.053 MarchFirst-Aktien der Klasse A sowie 86.947 Aktien der Klasse B übernehmen. Die Aktien der Klasse A können jederzeit in die an der Börse gehandelten Anteile zu $2 getauscht werden. Das Angebot entspricht einem Aufpreis von etwa 41% gegenüber dem durchschnittlichen Schlusskurs der letzten fünf Tage. Durch die Ausübung der Optionsrechte würde Francisco Partners anschließend 17% der Anteile an der MarchFirst halten. Der Aktienkurs von MarchFirst stürzte von einem Hoch bei etwa $73 auf ein absolutes Tief bei $1. Derzeit werden die Papiere bei $1-5/8 gehandelt. Mit den neuen Mitteln dürfte zunächst die Liquidität bis ins Jahr 2001 gesichert sein. Das Unternehmen sah sich zuletzt existenziellen Schwierigkeiten gegenüber, da das Beratungsgeschäft deutlich hinterden Erwartungen zurück blieb.

nachzulesen unter consors.de

[bareda]

UBS Warburg cuts E-services sector

By Carl Corry, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 1:11 PM ET Dec 15, 2000

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Shares of Internet services firms tumbled on Friday after a UBS Warburg analyst cut his revenue and earnings per share estimates on the sector by about 10 percent and said it`s likely that those who haven`t made fourth quarter warnings and staff cuts would fall in line soon.
The recent announcements come amid "a shift in demand that favors larger vendors, disappearing spending from dot-coms, and delays in IT spending due to year-end budget planning," said Internet services analyst Adam Frisch, who singled out Proxicom (PXCM: news, msgs) and Sapient (SAPE: news, msgs) as firms that would likely follow in the footsteps of peers such as MarchFirst (MRCH: news, msgs) and Scient (SCNT: news, msgs) .
In anticipation, Frisch cut his 12-month target prices, as well as his fourth-quarter and full-year 2001 revenue and cash EPS estimates on the firms.
"These cuts should not come as a surprise and it basically reflects our belief that no company is an island unto itself within an industry that is experiencing challenging times," Frisch told CBS.MarketWatch.com. "These cuts are financial projections that are more in line with our qualitative investment pieces on the sector."

Shares of Proxicom and Sapient both dropped to fresh 52-week lows on the news.
Proxicom shares, which hit a split adjusted high of $67.50 back in January, have been driven consistently lower since July. After falling to $4.06, the company`s stock was recently trading at $3.75, down 23 percent.
Sapient shares plunged 13.2 percent to $10.19, off 86.5 percent from its 52-week high of $75.56.
MarchFirst dropped 22 cents, or 11.5 percent, to $1.69. The entire sector`s stocks have been hit hard this year.
And while he does not believe there is near-term risk for Diamond Technology (DTPI: news, msgs) , Frisch lowered his 2002 estimates on the company "to being them more in line with recent industry developments." That was reflected in a lower 12-month price target for the company of $52, rather than the prior target of $63.
The company`s shares fell $2.06 to $21.63.
In 2001, Frisch added, "We think that if vendors want to be competitive, they will have to be either really big (1,500 billable heads doesn`t cut it, in our view) or highly specialized and recognized in the marketplace for niche expertise."  

[bareda]

27.12. 16:42
Blue Martini Software steigt weiter
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Die Aktien von Blue Martini Software steigen aktuell um 16.1% auf $12.19, gestern konnten die Aktien bereits um 50% steigen.

Grund hierfür ist die Erwähnung der Aktie im amerikanischen Wochenmagazin Barron`s. Dort wurde David Readerman von Thomas Weisel Partners zitiert. Readerman sieht die Aktie als eine der wenigen Strong Buys im Software-Sektor.


siehe dazu:
News November:
Partner von MRCH
Iomega Corporation Adopts Blue Martini Software for B-to-B and B-to-C Sites Worldwide
ROY, Utah and SAN MATEO, Calif., Nov. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Iomega Corporation (NYSE: IOM), a global leader in data management solutions, today announced the selection of Blue Martini`s Java-based Customer Interaction System to power all Iomega business-to-business (B-to-B) and business-to-consumer (B-to-C) Web sites worldwide. Blue Martini Software, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLUE), a provider of enterprise applications to understand, target and interact with customers, will help Iomega offer its customers, partners and suppliers an enhanced, more personalized, interactive Web experience.
The Blue Martini Customer Interaction System will integrate Iomega customer interactions across all of its channels, including Web sites, call centers and eventually WAP-enabled wireless devices, as well as streamline operations including content management and workflow. This will provide Iomega with a single view of the customer and similarly give Iomega customers a consistent yet personalized view of Iomega, whether they are purchasing on the Web or phoning a telesales representative for online shopping assistance.

[bareda]

marchFIRST Completes $150 Million Investment From Francisco Partners

CHICAGO, Dec. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- marchFIRST, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRCH - news), a leading global professional services company, today announced the completion of the $150 million investment from Francisco Partners. The transaction closed and the investment proceeds have been transferred to marchFIRST today.

``We are pleased to finalize this transaction in an expeditious manner. We believe that this capital, coupled with our operating cash flow, will provide us with the financial flexibility necessary to execute our year 2001 business plan and our global client relationship model,`` said Robert Bernard, marchFIRST Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. ``We intend to focus on driving operational excellence and leveraging our core capabilities to help our clients get closer to their customers while maximizing their operational efficiencies.``

Francisco Partners purchased 63,053 shares of marchFIRST`s Series A, 8% convertible preferred stock and 86,947 shares of marchFIRST`s Series B, 12% preferred stock for $1,000 per share. The Series A shares will be convertible at any time into shares of marchFIRST common stock at a price of $2 per share. Upon approval by marchFIRST stockholders, the Series B shares would convert into Series A shares on a one-for-one basis. A detailed description of the terms of these securities is contained in marchFIRST`s Current Report on Form 8-K dated December 13, 2000.


About Francisco Partners

Francisco Partners, a $2.5 billion private equity firm focused on structured investments in technology companies, was formed by David M. Stanton, Sanford R. Robertson, Benjamin H. Ball, Dipanjan Deb and Neil M. Garfinkel. Francisco Partners targets public companies, divisions of public companies and private companies with transaction values ranging from $50 million to in excess of $2 billion. In total, the principals have made substantial investments in over 25 technology companies. Their investments include the purchase of Globespan, Inc. and Paradyne from Lucent Technology; the purchase of Legerity from Advanced Micro Devices; the purchase of XcelleNet from Sterling Commerce; the pending purchase of American Microsystems, Inc. from Japan Energy Corporation; the purchases of GT Com and Zilog, and the $1.8 billion purchase of ON Semiconductor from Motorola. In addition to its internal resource base, Francisco Partners has an exclusive long-term relationship with Sequoia Capital, one of the most prominent and successful venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. Founded in 1972, Sequoia Capital has provided early stage capital to over 350 technology companies including 3Com Corp., Apple Computer, Cisco Systems, Inc., Oracle Corp., and Yahoo! Inc.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes forward-looking statements that reflect marchFIRST`s current expectations about its future results, performance, prospects and opportunities. marchFIRST has tried to identify these forward-looking statements by using words such as ``believe`` ``intend,`` and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause marchFIRST`s actual results, performance, prospects or opportunities in 2001 and beyond to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, the development of the marketplace for e-commerce solutions and other factors affecting market demand, changes in business plans and financial models that may result from the transaction discussed in this news release and any other financing or strategic transactions entered into by marchFIRST, marchFIRST`s ability to meet its future cash needs, marchFIRST`s ability to manage its growth and expansion into new geographic areas and service lines, foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations and other risks associated with international business, difficulties in attracting and retaining highly skilled employees, marchFIRST`s ability to accurately estimate the cost, scope and duration of fixed-price client engagements, marchFIRST`s ability to collect amounts billed for client engagements, risks related to marchFIRST`s investments in equity securities, risks related to possible acquisitions, competitive factors, integration and other risks related to the merger with USWeb/CKS and possible consequences of stockholder lawsuits against marchFIRST. For further information about these and other risks, uncertainties and factors, please review the disclosure included under the caption ``Risk Factors`` in marchFIRST`s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2000 and Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. marchFIRST undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or changed circumstances or for any other reason.