caatoosee ag is going to public at Frankfurt Stock Exchange at 20th September 2000 with emission price 21 Euro
20.09.2000, 15:43
PRAGUE/STUTTGART/FRANKFURT AM MAIN Sept 20 (APROTEXT) -Germany-based caatoosee ag will go on the Frankfurt StockExchange. Fall this year. In the run-up to the flotation the webbusiness outlet, which was set up in 1996 by today's CEO GuidoAlt as a media group, recently go public at 20th of September2000. The consortium of issuers is jointly lead by DresdnerKleinwort Benson and the Baden-Württemberg Landesbank. caatooseedesigns, develops and operates information and transactionplatforms for e-commerce. Its client portfolio features a numberof top players including DaimlerChrysler, Deutsche Bank and Gehe.
The Group which continues to expand in Europe hasstrategically pitched its portfolio of services at implementing aconvergence of software and content, and offers a range ofsolutions throughout the supply chain for web-based businesses.When designing and delivering network platforms, caatoosee usesits own turn-key solutions and standalone software modules forspecific applications such as logistics and distribution.Moreover, caatoosee is the first e-commerce services provider toenable its clients to organize the distribution of the customizedcontent they need based on end-user profiles. This explains whythe corporation set up the contara AG joint venture with theGerman publishing group Georg von Holtzbrinck. To round off itslist of services, the Group offers clients a range of facilitiesfor marketing and running network platforms. caatoosee has alsoacquired a reputation for itself in marketing processed andbatched data from its network platform operations.
Together with just four staff, Guido Alt started out in April1996 as the "Media Group Agency for New Media". By mid-1998 thecompany was already busy building up its product and licensingbusiness. Barely a few months later in spring 1999, Alt hadalready secured deals to set up production outlets in Prague(Czech Republic) and Zagreb (Croatia), the first step on the pathto corporate expansion in Europe. Armed with a carefully plannedstrategy to become the leading network services supplier inEurope, caatoosee first took over Pandora Neue Medien GmbH andfollowed this up by acquiring a 76.2% stake in Connex SoftwareGmbH in March this year. With its next takeover of the SwissEDIfact AG business in May 2000, caatoosee was able to furtherdevelop its expertise in linking platforms to back-end processes(e.g. ERP systems). A further string was added to the bow ofcaatoosee's successful expansion strategy in July 2000 with thetakeover of IT-Networks GmbH, a consulting and softwaredevelopment house based in Ludwigsburg (Germany). At the sametime, the logical string of caatoosee start-ups in Britain,Italy, Romania and the USA (June 1998) was further proof of thefact that the Group had become an international player. And in aparallel development, the Group's drive for expansion saw it setup a number of joint ventures: contara AG was established incooperation with the publishing group Georg von Holtzbrinck,stratobyte AG originated in cooperation with EADS/Astrium and afurther JV is due to be rolled out this August together withDeutsche Sparkassen Verlag GmbH, the publishing arm of the Germansavings banks.
Altogether, caatoosee employs 227 staff at its headquartersin Stuttgart and branches in Berlin, Frankfurt, London, Milan,Prague, Timisoara (Romania), Washington D.C. and Zagreb. For the1999/2000 business year ending March 31 caatoosee had achievedtotal sales worth DM 14.8m and an EBITDA of DM 0.2m. The figuresare based on a pro forma audit based on US-GAAP criteria andincorporate all majority holdings of the Group.
The chairman of the supervisory board is Dr. h. c. LotharSpäth, president of Jenoptik AG and former governor of the Germanstate of Baden-Württemberg. Guido Alt is the majoritystockholder, with the remaining stock distributed among strategicpartners and financial investors.
caatoosee s.r.o. Prague was established at March 1999 as the1st caatoosee's base in CEMA region. Company started with only 4key employees and grown up very quickly to current 30 staffmembers, mainly IT specialist. They're playing strategic role incore project and product development for caatoosee worldwide.
More informations:
caatoosee s.r.o.
Jan Kubalik
Konevova 65
CZ - 130 00 Prague 3
Ph + 42 02 72 188 - 330
Fx + 42 02 72 188 - 330
www.caatoosee.com
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