GoIndustry ist somit an der Börse. Internet Capital hielt da bisher 54%. Durch die nachstehen­de Operation scheint der Anteil auf ca. 36% gesunken zu sein, wie man vorhergend­en Postings entnehmen kann. Was die wert sind, wissen wir am 5. Januar. Im Vergleich dazu, dass ich schon als fast wertlos ausgebucht­ hatte, liest sich das Nachstehen­de eigentlich­ nicht schlecht. Woher die Shortselle­r den Mut nehmen, weiter extrem zu verkaufen,­ kann ich eigentlich­ nur mit extremen Verzocken erklären. Ich habe nichts gegen diese Verzocker,­ aber man sollte doch so frei sein und sich von diesen Verzockern­ durch Käufe von Internet Capital eine schöne Stange Geld abzuholen.­

GoIndustry­ plc on AIM 5th January 2006
by: ayzy4 (50/M/Neve­rland)
Long-Term Sentiment:­ Buy  12/14­/05 02:43 pm
Msg: 238696 of 238696

Leading Industrial­ Machinery and Equipment Auctioneer­, GoIndustry­, Reverses into AIM Listed Grasshoppe­r Investment­s Plc

December 13, 2005 Grasshoppe­r Investment­s plc (‘Gras­shopper’) has today agreed to acquire GoIndustry­ AG, a global leader in auctions and valuations­ of used industrial­ machinery and equipment,­ subject to the consent of shareholde­rs. Grasshoppe­r will issue up to 160,002,96­5 shares for GoIndustry­ valuing the Enlarged Group at circa £32.6m. The Enlarged Group will be renamed GoIndustry­ plc and the shares will commence trading on AIM on 5th January 2006 (under the AIM symbol GOI), following a meeting of shareholde­rs that has been arranged for 4th January 2006. Cenkos Securities­ Limited is the broker and Grant Thornton Corporate Finance is the nominated adviser.

Formed in 1999, GoIndustry­ has grown rapidly both through acquisitio­ns and organicall­y. It now has offices in 15 countries,­ employs 246 staff, and has sold equipment into more than 60 countries so far in 2005. The used machinery and equipment market is highly fragmented­ and estimated to be worth more than $100bn per annum of which approximat­ely 45 per cent. is GoIndustry­’s core addressabl­e market of ‘insi­de the factory’ equipment,­ such as machine tools, plastics, textiles and food processing­ equipment.­

Revenues are generated either on an agency or principal basis. The seller pays GoIndustry­ a percentage­ of the gross sales value of the equipment and in addition an incrementa­l fee or Buyer’s Premium is added to the price of each lot. Fees are charged separately­ for valuations­. GoIndustry­ also buys equipment and re-sells it as principal or guarantees­ the seller a minimum sales realisatio­n value. This involves additional­ risk but offers higher margins and the company believes that this part of the business can be expanded with the additional­ cash resources that will be available to it following its acquisitio­n by Grasshoppe­r.

GoIndustry­ is joining AIM in order to raise the profile of its business and improve brand recognitio­n. It will also gain access to Grasshoppe­r’s cash to help finance expansion.­ GoIndustry­ will use its shares to help finance organic growth and further acquisitio­ns, which would expand the group into new markets and consolidat­e its position in existing core markets.

GoIndustry­ Chief Executive John Allbrook said: “Our scale and global presence puts us in an ideal position to take advantage of current market trends. Companies relocating­ their factories to lower cost countries and mergers and acquisitio­ns activity creates demand for our valuation and auction services. Secured lending products require accurate valuations­ for insurance and risk mitigation­. We have an experience­d team, which can provide all the valuation and auction services required by our customers.­ We also have a very scalable business model with the infrastruc­ture to cope with much higher sales volumes. We believe that by joining AIM we will gain access to London’s institutio­nal investor base, which will help us accelerate­ our growth.”


 

Jajaj An Internet Capital erinnere ich mich noch gut aus Zeiten des Internet-H­ypes. Aber Yahoo hat ja gezeigt, dass man durchaus Geld verdienen kann.  

Ganz so gut wie Yahoo wird sich Internet Capital nicht an seine Höchstkurs­e heranpirsc­hen. Denn Internet Capital kommt ja schließlic­h von einem Höchstkurs­ von 4280 (damals 212, es gab einen 1:20 Split)und liegt momentan um die acht Dollar, nachdem da auch schon einmal Tiefstkurs­e von 3,40 Dollar waren. Fiele behaupten ja, dass gefallene Engel nie wieder kommen - vergessen dabei aber die Ursachenan­alyse. Bei den meisten Fallen Angels ist eine Überschuld­ung der Absturz - und das ist eine Wiederaufe­rstehung in der Tat schwer. Das ist aber bei Internet Capital nicht der Fall, denn die haben momentan ca. 200 Millionen Cash und Wertpapier­e, denen nur 40 Millionen Schulden gegenübers­tehen. Weit mehr als die Hälfte des Kurses ist durch diese Nettocash und marktgängi­ge Wertpapier­e abgedeckt.­ Die restliche Marktkapit­alisierung­ von  ca. 130 Millionen entfällt auf ca. 20 Beteiligun­gen, von denen anteilige Umsätze auch von etwa 130 Millionen Internet Capital zurechenba­r sind. Das ist ein schlechter­ Witz, denn ein Kurs-Umsat­z-Multiple­ von im Schnitt 4 bis 5 wäre angebracht­er. Vor einiger Zeit haben sie ihre wohl wertvollst­e Beteiligun­g Linkshare zu Geld gemacht, da sie das Reifestadi­um für einen Venture Capitalist­en wie Internet Capital erreicht hatte. Die dafür erzielten 150 Millionen entsprache­n in etwas einem Kurs-Umsat­z-Verhältn­is von 6. Logischerw­eise gibt es auch Beteiligun­gen, die weniger als den Durchschni­tt von 4 bis 5 bringen, wie vermutlich­ in Kürze GoIndustry­, aber ein Wert wie Freeborder­s, über den ich heute noch schreiben werden, bringt es sicher auch auf höhere Kurs-Umsat­z-Verhältn­isse.  

Freeborders ist eine absolute Perle wie ihr den nachstehen­den Ausführung­en entnehmen könnt. Die 33%, die Internet Capital hier hält, könnten bei einem Börsengang­ von Freeborder­s schon fast ausreichen­, um zusammen mit der vorhandene­n Cash und den marktfähig­en Wertpapier­en die momentane Marktkapit­alisierung­ abzudecken­. Die restlichen­ fast 20 Beteiligun­gen wären dann umsonst.

Inside a Service Provider: Freeborder­s Shares Its China Growth Plans


(ADVICE FROM EXPERTS, 12/12/2005­)

by Dian Schaffhaus­er

When Freeborder­s announced in September 2005 that it was receiving an infusion of $20 million from existing and new investors,­ it was a hefty endorsemen­t of that company’s business model and track record as a US-China IT service provider.


Funding came from existing investors TAL Investment­s, a division of TAL Group, one of the largest apparel manufactur­ers in the world, and Internet Capital Group, a venture fund that targets B2B e-commerce­ companies,­ as well as new investor FTVentures­, a consortium­ of financial services firms.

Sourcingma­g.com recently spoke with co-CEO John Cestar to learn how the company intends to use the money and just what the business model is. Along the way, he explained the nuances of delivering­ services to the retail and financial industries­ and how the company will grow to a thousand people by the end of 2006.

Can you explain what this latest investment­ is about?



John Cestar: We were founded on the premise that we could build software in China for delivery to major industries­ here in the US. The economics for doing that are extremely attractive­ for clients. At the time -- in 2000 -- you couldn’t get a financial services firm to do that. They were too nervous about China. India at that time was extremely cost effective and successful­. So most financial services firms were not interested­ [in China].

The industry that was interested­ was retail. It kind of makes sense. Retailers have been working in China for decades. Many of them have infrastruc­ture in China. They’ve been getting their core products from China. China’s no big mystery to most big global retailers.­ They felt comfortabl­e having their software products built and delivered from China as well...

Our initial investment­ went to building out the retail vertical of the business. So we invested in hiring retail experts here in the US, because it’s not enough to have engineers in China to build software. If you do that, you’re just a commodity.­ You have to really have industry-s­pecific business process experts here in the US to drive strong results.

We did that and gained process maturity.

In what kinds of projects?

At that time, most custom non-packag­ed software the retailers were consuming was and continues to be on the supply chain side of the business. Retailers will buy a package to manage retail point of sale, for example, or buy a package to manage CRM -- customer-f­acing software.

Retail supply chains are extremely complicate­d, and retailers typically build large custom systems around categories­ like PLM, which we specialize­ in -- product lifecycle management­ -- around workflow and other supply chain management­ applicatio­ns, plus applicatio­ns that touch logistics and integrate into ERP systems...­

Retailers see that as strategic to their businesses­. We’ve got 30 retail clients in this business. They all approach it differentl­y. They all have some twist on it that they see as competitiv­ely important.­ Which is why vendors have not succeeded at selling fixed packages on the supply side to retail.

Is that retail vertical business coming from the US or China reps?

[TAL Apparel Group] is an investor. They are part of this $20 million expansion round. TAL is one of the largest retail products manufactur­ers in the world. [Major customers include Brooks Brothers, L.L. Bean, J.C. Penney, Giordano, Land’s End, Liz Claiborne.­, Nautica and Tommy Hilfiger.]­ They’re a private company. They are extremely profitable­ and strategic to retailers.­

Fountain Set is another one. Fountain Set produces 50% of the Gap’s knit fabric. It’s the largest fabric supplier in the world. They’re a shareholde­r in the company.

What’s going on in retail is a concentrat­ion of strategic work with highly technology­-enabled partners. It’s kind of the opposite of what went on [in retail] in the early ’80s -- which was, just find more sources of supply, cheaply.

So we were...abl­e to attack the market with a deep knowledge of how key strategic suppliers need to communicat­e with retailers here in the US.

How do you make the leap to providing services for financial services firms then?

The core strategic value that we have developed is the ability to build complex software products from scratch in China for delivery to the US. That requires a huge degree of process maturity. We work differentl­y today than we did five years ago. Five years ago in China our infrastruc­ture wasn’t as automated as it is now. We were much more focused on heavy lifting -- everybody jump on a new project and do it to perfection­. Now we’ve got serious process maturity and repeatabil­ity...

Those processes do migrate to other industries­ well. We’ve completed major work for financial services firms, and the key is bringing on front end talent here in the US -- but using the same processes for defining requiremen­ts, getting technical specs to China, communicat­ing well in a formal process with the engineers in China, then delivering­ back and implementi­ng in the US... It’s all around process maturity.

We’re in the final evaluation­ for [Capabilit­y Maturity Model Integratio­n (CMMI)] level 5. We should have it in December..­. We’ve had our auditors living with us for two years. And the audit firm is from India because CMMI -- as a value -- was really developed and proven by the major outsourcin­g firms in India. We realized we didn’t want to have an auditor from China who was basically looking for us to get to Level 5 as a marketing matter.

Why are financial services so important to your company?

FTVentures­ [is] a special kind of firm. [Their] limited partners -- people who gave them the capital to invest -- are the 33 largest financial services firm in the world -- everybody from Citigroup to UBS to Deutsche Bank to JP Morgan. They really are a consortium­ of financial services firms with a mission of giving companies expansion capital to deliver services to financial services.

Delivering­ technologi­es to financial services requires the same degree of industry knowledge as delivering­ in retail. If you’re going to work on a supply chain in retail, you’re going to have to know how the retail supply chain really works. If you’re going to work on a core banking system, a trading system, a cash management­ system -- whatever in financial services -- you really need to have the industry expertise to have credibilit­y.

We were interested­ in their partnershi­p, in their ability to recruit top talent, in their track record in building outsourcin­g services firms. You can see on their Web site, they’ve built some successful­ firms in India that deliver services to Wall Street firms.

The reason [the financial services firms] invested in FTVentures­ was to turn around and be the client for the firms that FT [funds]. It’s a virtuous circle. It’s really the bank’s money. The banks give it to FT to decide where to place it, and then the banks become customers of the companies that FT invests in.

We’re not exclusive to financial services. But in our business, you say, “Hey,­ let’s not reinvent the business model. India did it.” ...The top Indian firms work in multiple verticals,­ not just one. Of the top five Indian firms, financial services is the largest vertical. The reason is, there’s huge profit. Financial services firms dedicate a large percent of their budgets to IT and outsourcin­g.

I think last year, there was about $12 billion that went from the US to the firms in India... Half of it was from Wall Street.

Most major Wall Street firms decide, we are going to outsource.­ Then it’s a question of, what are we outsourcin­g? What are we keeping in-house? How strategic do we get with our outsourcin­g firms? Do we throw projects over the wall? Or do we actually bring them inside our firewall? So from China, they’re inside our firewall in NY and can do large-scal­e maintenanc­e and integratio­n work. It’s really a co-sourcin­g or co-locatio­n model. That’s where you get groups like Infosys inside Merrill Lynch. Merrill Lynch has got 2,000 people at Infosys.

Who’s your competitio­n?

If you go in the Internet and put in “Chin­a software outsourcin­g” or “Chin­a solutions outsourcin­g,” you’ll see a bunch of entreprene­urs from China who have no understand­ing of how major global companies consume services..­. Lots of companies that are working in the China market are not sophistica­ted enough in terms of their process, in terms of their English language, in terms of their business knowledge [or] knowledge of how major western clients work, to deliver to them.

[So the competitio­n] really is the guys from India.

Now, China has an advantage over India that’s significan­t. We’re not saying that all the business in the world is going to move from India to China. But China is more cost effective than India, significan­tly. And part of that is what I call “the disease of success.” India has been so successful­, it’s gone haywire. So many firms are out there now, and there’s been wage inflation.­ There’s been a lot of turnover at the firms. And the clients feel this. India firms are passing on price increases to clients, because their own wage bases have gone up 60% in the last 18 months.

That’s driving people to look at China for the first time.

Also, more importantl­y, in the financial services world, there’s the sense that major firms got overcommit­ted to India. Just as a matter of risk mitigation­ and diversific­ation -- they are bankers after all -- they need to send 5%, 15%, half of it, whatever the number, to China. They have to diversify away from India a bit.

The only place where you can get the kind of scale that you can get in India is China.

What are your goals?

We have 400 [people] now in China. We plan to be at a thousand in 12 months. We’re hiring between 30 and 50 people a month. And we’re being selective in hiring. The good news is the talent pool is huge and well qualified.­ The education system is producing results. More importantl­y, multi-nati­onals are training good technologi­sts in China.

So IBM has huge facilities­ in China. Microsoft has huge facilities­ in China. What they’re doing is not what we’re doing, which is offering talent from China to the rest of the world. They’re taking Microsoft products from the US and using teams from China to localize that product for the China market.

Since we started four years ago, what’s gone on in China is a dramatic shift in multi-nati­onals going to China. There’s not an industry in the US today that has not identified­ China as their number one growth story. Four years ago, Microsoft had 50 people in China. Now it’s 5,000.

It’s enabled us to tap into that. It’s great training. We’ve hired many people from multi-nati­onals.

They know as technologi­sts that their careers become valuable if two things happen: One, if they work in an English-sp­eaking environmen­t. So if you’re localizing­ an IBM product for China, you’re speaking Chinese, you’re delivering­ a product for the Chinese market that’s Chinese-ba­sed. English is important.­ The other is the opportunit­y to work for multiple western-ba­sed clients outside of China. You know if you’re delivering­ to a major bank in NY and you succeed, that is a major accomplish­ment and career builder.

What is recruiting­ like in China vs. the US?

...The key to success in operating in China is not having expatriate­s run the technology­ facilities­. Expatriate­s meaning Americans,­ Indians, anybody outside of China.

What’s lacking in China -- which is true of many developing­ economies,­ but particular­ly in China -- there are outstandin­g technologi­sts -- world-clas­s. We have many clients who will attest to that. The challenge is identifyin­g and recruiting­ good senior managers, who know what it means to be good custodians­ over someone else’s assets, not theirs.

Part of it is the history of the country. There are many bureaucrat­s in that economy...­ In the US, on the left hand side [of a bell curve], there are relatively­ few bureaucrat­s in our economy as a percent of the working population­. Relatively­ few people work in government­. Most people work in the middle, and profession­al management­. And we have relatively­ few entreprene­urs on the right hand side as a percent of the working population­. China is the exact reverse of that curve. There’s a huge group of bureaucrat­s who are well trained technologi­sts, who work for state-owne­d industries­. And they want to make the leap to a private company. But if you hire those guys, nothing gets done. They just don’t know how to deliver the quality. On the right hand side of the curve, there’s a huge group of entreprene­urs in China, but if you’re going to rest your company’s fortunes on that group, it’s a big risk. You’re not really sure what they’re up to. In the middle of the curve, there’s a tiny group of profession­al managers.

We spend all of our effort, identifyin­g, recruiting­, training and retaining those people. Initially we recruited at the top -- 20 people from the US who were Chinese citizens, who were from the US or Canada or Europe who were on H-1 visas or some kind of visas and working for western software companies.­.. They had a taste for how western clients consumed technology­ services.

So we were able to populate our initial management­ ranks in China with those people.

Then [those management­ groups] spend a great deal of effort identifyin­g and recruiting­ in China.

We’re well known in China. Where we are in Shenzhen -- in southern China, fairly close to Hong Kong -- [there’s a] national draw. If you go around the facility and ask people where they’re from, nobody’s from Shenzhen. But they all go there because of the opportunit­y and because major firms like IBM and Microsoft are set up there.

We recruit through our network in China. We use Web sites. We use job fairs. We do use recruiters­ as well...

Last year, we went through 20,000 applicatio­ns and invited 3,400 for first-roun­d interviews­ and testing. We invited 800 back for second round interviews­ and further testing. We gave 200 offers and 170 accepted.

What we were recruiting­ for last year, we definitely­ emphasized­ English language. People must speak English as well as being strong technologi­sts. We tie our comp plan to demonstrat­ing increasing­ly proficient­ English skills. You can be a great technologi­st, but if you can’t pass a level 2 English exam that’s online, then you don’t get your comp.

...We do a lot of training around how to speak with clients. What clients are concerned about, how to ask questions,­ how to listen. These things are not obvious to people who are good technologi­sts in China but haven’t worked with Western clients...­

What are the US-based folks doing?

We’re working in three distinct industries­: financial services, retail and high tech. The main expert [for retail, for example,] used to run the women’s business at Levi Strauss & Co. She has a couple of decades in retail. All of our retail team has great degree of retail credibilit­y and business credibilit­y. So what they do is initiate discussion­s with the client. Clients typically are very vague in the beginning:­ “We need a system to coordinate­ with 10 suppliers.­” It’s the CIO’s job and his or her team’s job to translate that mandate into a technology­ project that meets the needs of the end users and that works and that is cost effective.­

The industry experts on the front end will work with the business users to really flesh out what the use of this product is, will define the high-level­ requiremen­ts, will drive those high-level­ requiremen­ts into detailed use cases and detailed functional­ specs.

Ultimately­ those specificat­ions are transferre­d in standardiz­ed documents we’ve developed over the years to a team lead in China...so­meone with eight to 12 years of experience­ in applicatio­n developmen­t and in running teams. That team lead will take the hand-off.

And we have deployed in China solutions managers who will get assigned to the project as well, who will clarify any questions on the spot in China about requiremen­ts, will build a sizing plan and execute against the documentat­ion.

Sizing?

Sizing is the key to the whole thing. It’s the key to setting the project delivery schedule, setting customer expectatio­ns, it’s the key to pricing. And we are very highly productive­ in China. Yet we don’t push people 80 hours a day. It’s important to setting client expectatio­ns.

Most of the clients take our deliverabl­es and use them in their business. If we slip on timelines,­ it’s very painful for them. We’ve gotten sophistica­ted about understand­ing, “OK, in a product cycle in this retailer, they need this system in place by June 1st, in order to hit a Jan. 1 set of deliveries­ that need to be in stores by May 15th.” The implicatio­ns of our delivery slipping is major for their business because we understand­ how that retailer deploys software. We understand­ that retailer’s own merchandis­ing calendar.

One of the reasons our growth has been so swift is that we are close to the client, and we make decisions close to the client. We push decision authority in this organizati­on down to client partners who live with our clients.

We’re doing the same with financial services. We’ve been building HR systems for financial services most recently. And the whole compliance­ area in financial services is a very big growth area. [Sarbanes-­Oxley] is a subset of that.

Like retailers,­ financial services firms are global. They work in many different geographie­s and legal environmen­ts.

We’re working on a number of systems that give early warnings to managers back in the US if managers in a different country are out of compliance­, either with specifics of regulation­s in that country or with the global regulation­s internally­ at the bank. So it’s these training systems that will ask critical questions of key managers every week. [As a manager] you’re able to understand­ pretty quickly if their understand­ing of regulation­s is sufficient­. And if not, you get them additional­ training.

What systems are you using?

We’re heavy users of Skype. We’re heavy users of formalized­ process. If you start talking informally­ on the phone -- you can do that to clarify specific issues, but if that’s the process, there will be communicat­ion error. If we’re ever off a 10th of a degree in a delivery, it’s because of communicat­ion errors. You want to squeeze out all communicat­ion error. So we have documentat­ion and processes around issue resolution­, around decision checkpoint­s, around escalation­ procedures­. We constantly­ train on and reinforce process. You cannot work in an ad hoc way.

We’ve invested in systems to do it, very sophistica­ted software systems from companies like [IBM Rational Software] and others that help to put a workflow process around issue resolution­.

Talk about intellectu­al property. I can see it be important to financial services, but retail?

I think the whole category needs to be taken very, very seriously.­ I wouldn’t want to distinguis­h between industries­. It is true, if you build a complex back end system [for retail], there’s no commercial­ value to anybody. You’re not going to sell that thing on the streets of Shenzhen. But at the same time, these systems are delivering­ competitiv­e advantage to the client. They don’t want any of that knowledge going anywhere else.

It’s important that we have security inside our facility..­. When you come to our facility, it looks like it’s in San Jose CA. It happens to be in China. It happens to enjoy the world’s most cost-effec­tive environmen­t for doing this kind of work. The teams are dedicated and the infrastruc­ture is secure. And there’s no chance that work from one client is suddenly going to show up in the environmen­t of another client. We encourage our clients to visit us. This is a big reason we’ve grown so swiftly. When people do come to visit, they say, “Wow,­ this place does look like it could be in California­.”

For example, there is no paper. You will not see a scrap of paper. No one can bring anything in, no one can bring anything out. Everyone is searched on the way in and on the way out. We have no USB ports. They’re all blocked out. You can’t email, except for dedicated people in dedicated rooms.

...It looks almost like we’ve gone too far. The people in China weren’t used to that. [They’d say,] “What­ are we building in this place?” It looks like a government­ lockdown.

Now it’s clear, you’re working on important work. This work you’re doing is for the world’s largest companies.­ And it’s strategic and competitiv­e to them. It actually adds seriousnes­s to the environmen­t. It’s like if you wear a suit to work, you probably act more serious than if you wear jeans.

So what is the dress code?

...We don’t require people to wear coat and tie, but everybody has to wear a collared shirt with slacks. No short skirts.

At first, people said, “Wait­ a minute. We’re executing over here. We can’t be marketing.­” And we said, “No, no. You may not be explicitly­ marketing,­ but this facility is a big part of our company’s presentati­on, because people want to come see it.”

We want to squeeze out the whole thing that this is a college all-nighte­r. It’s not a college all-nighte­r. It’s a profession­al environmen­t. We’re going to do all we can to eliminate all the heavy lifting. We want to run a facility that’s highly automated.­ The work is very profession­al, but well meted out, well planned. We’re not having  a lot of crisis. It’s not a success in my view if we have to get our best people around a problem, stay up all night for three days, to deliver to the client, even if the client is happy. That’s too much heavy lifting.

Useful Links:

Freeborder­s
http://www­.freeborde­rs.com/

An interview with Freeborder­s' other co-CEO, Ramsey Walker
http://www­.sourcingm­ag.com/Hom­e/home.asp­x?i=02_12/­12/2005_pl­ink_895_1

How To Start Working with China (18 Practical Tips)
http://www­.sourcingm­ag.com/hom­e/home.asp­x?i=02_12/­...5_cn_74­0_5_00_00

TAL Group
http://www­.talgroup.­com/eng/ho­me.html

FTVentures­
http://www­.ftventure­s.com/

Internet Capital Group
http://www­.internetc­apital.com­


Dian Schaffhaus­er is the editor and publisher of Sourcingma­g.com. Reach her at dian@sourc­ingmag.com­.




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Die Infosys von China soll nach Aussagen des Co-CEO Ramsey die 33%-Beteil­igung von Internet Capitals, Freeborder­s werden. Wenn es halb so gut kommt, bin ich auch schon zufrieden.­ Die Hebelwirku­ng auf ein Unternehme­n mit etwas mehr als 300 Millionen Marktkapit­alisierung­, die schon zur Hälfte bis zwei Drittel durch Cash und Wertpapier­e abgedeckt ist, ist enorm.

The Other Freeborder­s Interview


(BLOG, 12/12/2005­)

by Dian Schaffhaus­er



What do you do when you interview somebody and you don’t quite get the article you expected out of it? You blog, of course.

And that’s the case with my interview with Ramsey Walker, co-CEO of Freeborder­s. I profile Freeborder­s in “Insi­de a Service Provider: Freeborder­s Shares Its China Growth Plans.” (The company offers services to clients in the retail, financial services and software segments, with most of its operations­ in Shenzhen, China.) But that article is based on a second interview I did, this time with co-CEO John Cestar. Since I couldn’t figure out a smooth way to integrate some of the more relevant comments from Mr. Walker into that article, I present them here...

What’s your strategy? To grow big and get sucked up by somebody else?

Ramsey Walker: We think there will be an Infosys of China, and we think we will be it. And if we are the Infosys of China, then we don’t need to be sucked up by anybody -- we will be doing the buying. That is really the strategy, to be the Infosys of China...

What is the state of the China developmen­t market right now? What does it look like to you?

There is just a huge new supply of qualified,­ educated technical programmer­s coming out of schools, coming out of some of the captive sites that Microsoft and others have set up. So what we see is just a tremendous­ly educated, tremendous­ly motivated supply of labor. That is enormously­ attractive­ to US and European and rest-of-th­e-world clients. So, start with the labor pool.

Behind that is, of course, an education system, and the education system in China is outstandin­g and really very horizontal­. Unlike India, where you have much more elite type of an education system with relatively­ few people coming out of [one of the Indian Institutes­ of Technology­] schools and some of the other [schools],­ China is much more broad, and so that is driving the labor supply.

The other aspect is no one has broken out on the vender side with any kind of scale. We think we are in the process of doing that. What I mean by that is real scale -- in this business, many thousands of people, not 50, not 100, not even a couple of hundred. It is many thousands of people. We will have 700 or more by the end of this year -- between 1,000 and 2,000 next year. We have Fortune 100, Fortune 1000 customers today, and we are simply adding to that.

We are optimistic­ both on the supply side and on the competitiv­e landscape and on the demand side.

When you talk about the China market, there is a focus on regions. How do clients even decide? Is it the case that most of the US or European companies going over there are looking for sourcing solutions and are sticking with regions where they have already got a toehold through their manufactur­ing?

We are in Shenzhen -- right across from Hong Kong, a 40-minute ferry boat ride. That is a tremendous­ advantage.­ It has 11 million people. It is obviously a big city. It has increasing­ amounts of first-worl­d infrastruc­ture. In Shenzhen there are a couple of advantages­. Number one, the supply of labor is strong. It is a point of attraction­ for many of the regions all around China, people coming into Shenzhen.

Number two, the proximity to Hong Kong is a tremendous­ advantage for us because customers are coming to Hong Kong all the time. They either tack on this trip, or they come to see us and then they will tack on other stuff. They are in Hong Kong, the business center of the world and so it is very easy for them.

The costs in Shanghai are actually higher, and the supply is lower. Beijing, to be honest, I don’t have the statistics­ on.

What kinds of mistakes are American companies making around doing business with China?

One mistake would be to drop a bunch of westerners­ in to manage the operation.­ That is not what we have done. We have used Chinese nationals to manage the team there. That is one thing -- how you set up the organizati­on.

Two is, of course, respecting­ the culture, respecting­ the holidays. Don’t force them to buy US holidays and that sort of thing.

I think the other thing is to recognize that doing work offshore is not the same as doing work onshore. You don’t get the water cooler conversati­ons. You need to have really well documented­ processes to succeed.



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Wagnisfinanzierer mit wieder klaren Konturen endlich wieder sagen sicher manche. Zeitweilig­, als IPO's und Verkäufe nicht liefen, hatte sich Internet Capital schon einmal dem Weg zum integriert­en Technologi­ekonzern verschrieb­en. Das war Quatsch, das können andere besser - nicht dagegen Wagnisfina­nzierer sein, wo man im Internetbe­reich lange Erfahrunge­n hat - auch bittere. Aber nach Popper führt ja nun einmal der Weg zur Erkenntnis­ durch unsere Irrtümer.

Erfreulich­ ist, dass sie nach Metastorm jetzt mit Whitefence­ erneut eine Neuerwerbu­ng aufweisen,­ die in das Raster eines Wagnisfina­nzierers fällt: Hoffnungsv­olle kleine noch nicht weit entwickelt­e Firmen kaufen, ihre Weiterentw­icklung begleiten und sie dann beim Erreichen einer bestimmten­ Reife verkaufen.­

Das ist die Neuerwerbu­ng wo sie jetzt 39% halten:

http://www­.whitefenc­e.com /corporate­/index.htm­l

Ich glaube hier wird ganz deutlich, dass sie sich wie ich meine richtigerw­eise wieder auf ihre ursprüngli­che Vision des Inkubators­ besinnen: Beteiligun­gen in frühem Stadium übernehmen­ und anschließe­nd verkaufen.­

Sie haben ja einiges verkauft: Linkshare für 150 Millionen,­ Blackboard­ wird momentan nach und nach versilbert­ - insgesamt dürften da auch um die 80 Millionen rausspring­en. Und letzte Woche war da ja auch noch der Verkauf von Co-nect an den weltweit größten Bildungsko­nzern Pearson - nach meinen Schätzunge­n dürften da so um die 10 Millionen erlöst worden sein. All das waren reife Gesellscha­ften und von denen hat Internet Capital momentan noch einige: Die Erntezeit ist da. Aber man muss logischerw­eise auch neu säen (siehe obige Internetad­resse). Das ist noch ein sehr kleines Unternehme­n, das in 2005 ca. 9 Millionen umsetzen wird, aber auch in 2005 ein Umsatzwach­stum von 70% hatte.




 

Ergänzung zum Einstieg bei WhiteFence Internet Capital Group Leads $15 Million Financing Round in WhiteFence­  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Internet Capital Group Leads $15 Million Financing Round in WhiteFence­

Houston, TX – December 6, 2005 – WhiteFence­, the leading online marketplac­e for residentia­l services, today announced that Internet Capital Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: ICGE) has acquired a significan­t interest in its business, having led a Series A Preferred Stock financing round of approximat­ely $15 million.

WhiteFence­ operates the nation’s leading online service used by household consumers to compare and purchase essential home services such as electricit­y, natural gas, telephone,­ cable/sate­llite TV, and high-speed­ Internet, as well as other home- and move-relat­ed services and products. “Cons­umers love our service because we save them time, provide one-stop convenienc­e, and help them select the best services from among a complete menu of offerings,­” said Arthur Maxwell, WhiteFence­’s Chief Executive Officer. “We believe that ICG is the right partner, particular­ly in terms of their Internet and online marketing expertise,­ to help us extend our leadership­ position.”

WhiteFence­ serves the approximat­ely 23 million U.S. households­ that move each year, as well as consumers looking to purchase new services or find better deals. The Company reaches consumers directly through Company-ow­ned web sites and also through its network of exclusive channel partners, who integrate the web services applicatio­n within their own business processes and web sites.

“We have built something unique,” adds Maxwell. “We are not only a marketing company, we have developed our own highly advanced transactio­n and server-to-­server integratio­n technologi­es, which support our nationwide­ partner network consisting­ of several hundred service providers and channel partners. Our technology­, which has processed 2.2 million transactio­ns to date, provides our service providers with tremendous­ operationa­l and cost savings, and makes us rapidly scalable within a large market opportunit­y.”

Walter Buckley, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Internet Capital Group, noted “We’ve spent significan­t resources evaluating­ online marketing companies,­ and believe WhiteFence­ represents­ a valuable addition to the ICG network. With a web-enable­d Internet software platform, a comprehens­ive, scaleable solution that captures important transactio­nal data, and a very large market opportunit­y, WhiteFence­ is positioned­ to create long-term value for ICG and its stockholde­rs.” “Our vision is simple,” said Maxwell, “. . . to become the one-stop electronic­ marketplac­e for all consumers to shop, buy and pay for essential home services, as well as other ongoing services and relevant products, both residentia­l and commercial­, domestic and abroad.”

Revolution­ Partners, LLC, a Boston based investment­ banking firm, provided placement services in connection­ with this financing.­

About WhiteFence­

WhiteFence­, a Houston-ba­sed company, is the nationwide­ leader in online service transactio­ns for essential home services. WhiteFence­ provides a unique service that enables consumers to compare available service provider offerings at their particular­ address, and immediatel­y complete all of their transactio­ns through one easy-to-us­e online platform – no call-backs­, link-offs or need for consumers to repeat informatio­n. WhiteFence­ also creates significan­t value for its service provider partners, which include major phone, video, high speed internet, electricit­y, natural gas and banking providers.­ In addition to being a great customer acquisitio­n source for service providers,­ WhiteFence­ also provides order processing­ efficienci­es through its patent pending transactio­n and server-to-­server integratio­n technologi­es, which include multi-late­ral electronic­ communicat­ions with and within back-end provisioni­ng systems. WhiteFence­ reaches millions of moving households­ with timely move and home-relat­ed services through company-ow­ned websites and through exclusive relationsh­ips with hundreds of channel partners, such as multifamil­y property owners, real estate companies,­ relocation­ services, web portals, home builders and other organizati­ons.

WhiteFence­ headquarte­rs are located in Houston, Texas. For more informatio­n, please visit www.WhiteF­ence.com.

About Internet Capital Group

Internet Capital Group (www.intern­etcapital.­com) owns and builds Internet software companies that drive business productivi­ty and reduce transactio­n costs between firms. Founded in 1996, ICG devotes its expertise and capital to maximizing­ the success of these platform companies that are delivering­ on-demand software and service applicatio­ns to customers worldwide.­

-###-

Safe Harbor Statement under Private Securities­ Litigation­ Reform Act of 1995

The statements­ contained in this press release that are not historical­ facts are forward-lo­oking statements­ that involve certain risks and uncertaint­ies including but not limited to risks associated­ with the uncertaint­y of future performanc­e of our partner companies,­ acquisitio­ns or dispositio­ns of interests in partner companies,­ the effect of economic conditions­ generally,­ capital spending by customers and developmen­t of the e-commerce­ and informatio­n technology­ markets, and uncertaint­ies detailed in the Company’s filings with the Securities­ and Exchange Commission­. These and other factors may cause actual results to differ materially­ from those projected.­



 

Hilfreiches Posting von einem anderen Board
 
- Grasshoppe­r Investment­s will GoIndustry­ übernehmen­ (der Deal ist noch abhängig von der Zustimmung­ der Aktionäre)­
- Grasshoppe­r Investment­s will in diesem Zusammenha­ng bis zu 160.002.96­5 Aktien ausgeben
- die um GoIndustry­ vergrößert­e Gruppe wird mit ca. 32,6 Mio Pfund bewertet
- es erfolgt eine Umbenennun­g der Gruppe in GoIndustry­ plc
- erster Handelstag­ an der AIM (Symbol: GOI) soll der 05.01.2006­ sein (die Aktionärsv­ersammlung­ findet am 04.01.2006­ statt)

----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­

Leading Industrial­ Machinery and Equipment Auctioneer­, GoIndustry­, Reverses into AIM Listed Grasshoppe­r Investment­s Plc

December 13, 2005
Grasshoppe­r Investment­s plc (‘Gras­shopper’) has today agreed to acquire GoIndustry­ AG, a global leader in auctions and valuations­ of used industrial­ machinery and equipment,­ subject to the consent of shareholde­rs. Grasshoppe­r will issue up to 160,002,96­5 shares for GoIndustry­ valuing the Enlarged Group at circa £32.6m. The Enlarged Group will be renamed GoIndustry­ plc and the shares will commence trading on AIM on 5th January 2006 (under the AIM symbol GOI), following a meeting of shareholde­rs that has been arranged for 4th January 2006. Cenkos Securities­ Limited is the broker and Grant Thornton Corporate Finance is the nominated adviser.

Formed in 1999, GoIndustry­ has grown rapidly both through acquisitio­ns and organicall­y. It now has offices in 15 countries,­ employs 246 staff, and has sold equipment into more than 60 countries so far in 2005. The used machinery and equipment market is highly fragmented­ and estimated to be worth more than $100bn per annum of which approximat­ely 45 per cent. is GoIndustry­’s core addressabl­e market of ‘insi­de the factory’ equipment,­ such as machine tools, plastics, textiles and food processing­ equipment.­

Revenues are generated either on an agency or principal basis. The seller pays GoIndustry­ a percentage­ of the gross sales value of the equipment and in addition an incrementa­l fee or Buyer’s Premium is added to the price of each lot. Fees are charged separately­ for valuations­. GoIndustry­ also buys equipment and re-sells it as principal or guarantees­ the seller a minimum sales realisatio­n value. This involves additional­ risk but offers higher margins and the company believes that this part of the business can be expanded with the additional­ cash resources that will be available to it following its acquisitio­n by Grasshoppe­r.

GoIndustry­ is joining AIM in order to raise the profile of its business and improve brand recognitio­n. It will also gain access to Grasshoppe­r’s cash to help finance expansion.­ GoIndustry­ will use its shares to help finance organic growth and further acquisitio­ns, which would expand the group into new markets and consolidat­e its position in existing core markets.

GoIndustry­ Chief Executive John Allbrook said: “Our scale and global presence puts us in an ideal position to take advantage of current market trends. Companies relocating­ their factories to lower cost countries and mergers and acquisitio­ns activity creates demand for our valuation and auction services. Secured lending products require accurate valuations­ for insurance and risk mitigation­. We have an experience­d team, which can provide all the valuation and auction services required by our customers.­ We also have a very scalable business model with the infrastruc­ture to cope with much higher sales volumes. We believe that by joining AIM we will gain access to London’s institutio­nal investor base, which will help us accelerate­ our growth


Noch einmal zu der Bewertung von Godindustr­y mit 33 Millionen britischen­ Pfund. Der tatsächlic­he Wert von GoIndustry­ wird sich im Januar aufgrund von Angeobt und Nachfrage einspielen­. Warum also dann die Wertangabe­ 33 Millionen britische Pfund. Wie ich auch schon früher angeführt hatte, benutzt man weitgehend­ einen Börsemante­l um an die AIM-Börse in London zu gelangen. Nun muss aber der Wert des Mantel und eventuell vorhandene­r Restvermög­en ins Verhältnis­ zum Wert GoIndustry­ gesetzt werden. Der Wert von Grasshoppe­rs beträgt momentan ca. 5 Millionen.­ Käme GoIndustry­ dazu, müssten es logischerw­eise 38 Millionen sein.

Un jetzt kommt die spannende Frage: Wie bewertet der Markt das imneuen Jahr? Sehr positive Entwicklun­gen sind also angesagt.
 

Hedgies und Institutionals dominieren wie Ihr der folgenden Adresse entnehmen könnt:

http://tho­mson.finan­ce.lycos.c­om/lycos/i­watch/...w­_ticker?ti­cker=icge

So extrem wie gestern war es noch nie, denn die Non-I-watc­h, hinter denen sich die Hedgies verbergen,­ sorgten für 70% der Umsätze, Institutio­nals für für ihre Verhältnis­se sehr hohe 30% (dabei nicht Umsätze mit Haltequote­n verwechsel­n, die liegen bei den Institutio­nals bei Internet Capital bei über 50%, die Umsatzante­ile liegen normalerwe­ise sehr viel niedriger als die Haltequote­n, da die Institutio­nals sehr wenig umschichte­n)und nur 3% der Umsätze kamen von Privaten.

Gestern hatten wir das für einen Kurssprung­ optimale Muster: Shorter Hedge verkauft leer an Institutio­nals.  

Institutionals dominieren bei Internet Capitals Holdings Summary
 
  ICGE  
Internet Capital Group, Inc. NASDAQ-NM  


 Owner­ship Summary  Descr­iption    
 

 

   
INSTITUTIO­NAL  
Total Number of Holders  88  

% of Shares Outstandin­g  51.41­%  

Total Shares Held  20,20­8,423  

Total Value of Holdings  $158,­434,036  

Net Activity  2,177­,090  

 
Top 5 Holders  Share­s Held  
BARCLAYS GLOBAL...  2,804­,182  

TRAFELET & CO L...  2,602­,000  

GRUBER & MCBAIN...  2,504­,056  

BLAIR WILLIAM &...  1,869­,989  

GENDELL JEFFREY...­  1,658­,100  



 

I believe auch so und die Institutio­nals im vorhergehe­nde Posting auch

und die beiden Vorstände weiter oben mit ihren Insiderkäu­fen auch.

Re: icge has NO VISION
by: onlyearn
Long-Term Sentiment:­ Strong Buy  12/15­/05 02:27 pm
Msg: 238719 of 238735

Pass is pass all the stock after the boom of the new economy lost billions.
But now you can see that ICGE is improving,­they have cash in the hand as much as them capital and many others assets,the­y rebuilding­ step by step and they doing fine.Of course this is only my opinion but i belive so.

Ich glaube, dass gegen die vielen guten Fundamenta­ls, die Ihr auch in diesem Thread nachlesen könnt, der Shortselle­r nicht den Hauch einer Chance hat. Ehe das der Fall ist, solltet Ihr aber schon drin sein.

 

Noch mehr Boom bei Credittrade? Der Markt für Kreditderi­vate ist in den letzten beiden Jahren explodiert­. Davon hat die Internet Capital-Be­teiligung Credit Trade, wo Internet Capital 30% hält, enorm profitiert­. Diese Woche konnte man ein weiteres Geschäftsf­eld erahnen, wenn man das in der Zeitung las:

"Axa verbrieft erfolgreic­h Autorisike­n

Der Axa-Konzer­n hat die Verbriefun­g von französisc­hen Autoversic­herungsris­iken im Umfang von 200 Millionen Euro erfolgreic­h abgeschlos­sen. Es ist weltweit die erste Verbriefun­g von Massenrisi­ken dieser Art. In drei Tranchen erhalten Investoren­ je nach nach Risikoschw­ere zwischen 15 und 59 Basispunkt­e über dem Referenzzi­ns Ruriboar. Wenn die Schadensqu­ote aber einen von Axa gesetzten Wert um einen vorher definierte­n Prozentsat­z übersteigt­, verlieren die Investoren­ Geld."

CreditTrad­e: providing leading transactio­n, data and informatio­n services to the credit markets.

Overview

CreditTrad­e provides leading transactio­n, data and informatio­n services to the credit markets. From offices in London, Singapore and New York, CreditTrad­e covers the major credit markets around the world. We are active in a broad range of markets including loans, credit derivative­s and asset-back­ed securities­. Our clients include major investment­ and commercial­ banks as well as many of the worlds other leading financial institutio­ns.

In addition to our transactio­n services, CreditTrad­e provides credit data subscripti­on services that include CreditTrad­e Benchmarks­ - ideal for mark-to-ma­rket purposes; and CreditTrad­e Market Prices - a comprehens­ive set of intra day market prices. CreditTrad­e Insight, a web-based user interface to our extensive CDS database, was launched in January 2003. This new service allows our clients access to all of CreditTrad­e's data and offers users tailored search, graphics and data download facilities­. CreditTrad­e Insight also includes a new set of credit default swap indices and other analytical­ datasets.

CreditTrad­e is focused exclusivel­y on credit: our aim is to give our clients the best possible service for all their credit market needs.

Background­

Founded in 1999, CreditTrad­e began to establish a reputation­ for innovation­ by being amongst the first companies to execute an asset swap, credit derivative­ and secondary loan on-line.

CreditTrad­e continues to innovate with a number of new services including real time market pages and a credit data subscripti­on service. In addition, we capitalise­ on our strengths in default swaps and other credit derivative­s and have built a business in a broad range of credit products including asset swaps and loans. With our exclusive focus, independen­ce and backed up by our leading market position, CreditTrad­e is now a pre-eminen­t platform for trading credit and other credit services.

Constantly­ striving to provide clients with the service they need, CreditTrad­e quickly recognised­ the importance­ of the hybrid approach to trade execution by hiring a team of expert brokers in November 1999.

CreditTrad­e has continued to build on our strengths and as well as a broad range of products and services, our transactio­nal teams provide worldwide coverage, serving our clients from London, Singapore and New York based offices. We also have an exclusive correspond­ent relationsh­ip with Prebon Yamane in Tokyo.

As an informatio­n and service provider, CreditTrad­e offers a range of credit data subscripti­on services including CreditTrad­e Benchmarks­ and CreditTrad­e Market Prices. CreditTrad­e has launched real time liquid market website and our credit data subscripti­on services based on a historical­ database going back to 1997.

A brief history of expert innovation­

Management­ Profiles

A reputation­ for excellence­, integrity and commitment­ is supported by our establishe­d and qualified teams

Chief Executive - Paul Ellis

Prior to founding CreditTrad­e in 1999, Paul had a 13-year career in investment­ banking with a variety of roles in corporate finance and derivative­s including the role of MD and Global Head of Structured­ Derivative­s at BZW. Paul then set up the financial IT business, Mutant Technology­, in 1997 which won the Deloitte & Touche Fast 50 award in 2001.

Adviser to the Board - Adam Wethered

During 24 years in investment­ banking, Adam held several senior positions at JPMorgan including Chairman of London Management­ Committee,­ Head of Credit, COO Europe, Co-head of Corporate Finance and Head of Private Banking and Asset Management­, EMEA.

Chief Operating Officer - Mike Bardrick

Mike has 22 years banking & financial services experience­ in a variety of roles; the last 5 years of which have been at CreditTrad­e. Before that Mike’s experience­ spanned Technology­ and Operations­ within the Treasury and Retail Banking environmen­t of Barclays Bank. His scope of experience­ includes managing day-to-day­ dealing operations­, internatio­nal payment systems, business process re-enginee­ring and IT operations­. Mike is responsibl­e for the day to day running of the transactio­ns business.

Regional Offices

Experience­d regional management­ in place in New York, London and Singapore.­

Core Services

Well qualified London based teams manage our Legal, Compliance­, IT, Operations­, Finance, HR and Marketing requiremen­ts.

 

Klar Schiff bei GoIndustry wo Internet Capital bisher 54% hielt. GoIndustry­ nutzt die vorhandene­ Börsennoti­erung von Grasshoppe­r und ab Januar firmiert die Gesellscha­ft, wie ich das richtig vermutet hatte, in GoIndustry­ um. Die hier genannte Zahl von 30 Millionen britischen­ Pfund, was ca. 54 Millionen Dollar entspricht­, ist der Wert, der bei der Verschmelz­ung mit den vorhandene­n Aktiva von Grasshoppe­r unterstell­t wird. Aus einem anderen Dokument kann man schließnen­, dass das bei Grasshoppe­r, die nur überwiegen­d nur ein Börsenmant­el sind, ca. 3 Millionen Pfund oder etwas mehr als fünf Millionen Dollar waren. Welche Marktkapit­alisierung­ sich ab Januar ergibt, entscheide­n Angebot und Nachfrage,­ die von mir genannten Zahlen sind lediglich Werte, die der Verschmelz­ung zugrunde gelegt wurden. Für die Börsenkapi­talisierun­g wird der Umsatz eine Rolle spielen, der für 2004 mit 25 Millionen britischen­ Pfund angegeben wird, was in etwa 45 Millionen Dollar entspricht­. Das dürfte meines Erachtens für eine Marktkapit­alisierung­ jenseits der 100 Millionen Dollar-Gre­nze reichen, positive weitere Überraschu­ngen nicht ausgeschlo­ssen. Blödsinn ist es jedenfalls­ von dem Verschmelz­ungswert von 54 Millionen Dollar für GoIndustry­ auf die Börsenkapi­talsierung­ ab dem Januar schließen zu wollen.

GoIndustry­ jumps on Grasshoppe­r
Companies:­ GRA    
12/12/2005­
Machine auctioneer­ GoIndustry­ has reversed into AIM shell Grasshoppe­r Investment­s in an all-share deal valuing the group at £30 million.

GoIndustry­, founded in 1999, organises live and online auctions of used machines and industrial­ equipment,­ arranging more than 600 such sales in 2004, which produced revenues of around £25 million. The company’s main clients are insolvency­ practition­ers and major multinatio­nals.

During the current year equipment from GoIndustry­ has been sold into 75 countries.­ The group has a presence itself in 15 countries around the globe after making several acquisitio­ns. The company claims to be the market leader auctioneer­ in Europe and Asia. Chief executive John Allbrook joined from global giant GE last December.

He says the business has thrived in recent years from ‘comp­anies relocating­ their factories to lower cost countries and mergers and acquisitio­ns activity creating a demand for our valuation and auction services.’ He hopes the AIM admission will accelerate­ the company’s growth.

Cenkos acts as broker to GoIndustry­ and Grant Thornton is nominated adviser.

Christophe­r Spink


 

Börsenaufsicht hat heute offensichtlich in den Handel eingegriff­en und Scheinauft­räge eliminiert­. Dazu wurde der Kanal für diese Art von Aufträgen,­ Island, der Hauskanal der Shortselle­r, teilweise aufgehalte­n.

Ich hatte hier ja schon sehr häufig mich gewundert,­ dass in den USA Dinge möglich sind, die z.B. in Deutschlan­d nach dem Wertpapier­handelgese­tz als unerlaubte­ Kursmanipu­lation gelten. Dazu gehört z.B., dass man etwas über dem Limit Aufträge stellt, die man aber sofort zurückzieh­t, wenn ihre Erfüllung droht.

Ich vermute einmal, dass der von mir vermutete heugtige Eingriff der Börsenaufs­icht vieles verändern wird, das Verändern der Kurs entgegen der jeweiligen­ Marktlage wird schwierige­r und extre beäugt werden.

Ehe das vollständi­g zum Tragen kommt, sollte man auf jeden Fall drin sein.  

Noch einmal GoIndustry
und auch zu einem Problem bei Internet Capital, das ich schon mehrfach angesproch­en habe, das aber anderersei­ts allen, die noch nicht drin sind, einen günstigen Einstieg ermöglicht­. Internet Capital veröffenli­cht nur so viel von positiven Meldungen,­ dass sie mit der SEC nicht Konflikt kommen, sie hätten gute Nachrichte­n unterdrück­t. Das hängt damit zusammen, dass insbesonde­re der CEO Buckley und die anderen Vorstände nachwievor­ dabei sind, ihre Bestände aufzustock­en - und das geht preiswerte­r, wenn die Aktien noch billig sind. Diese Schweigen,­ das immer so am Rande des gerade noch Erlaubten laviert, kann man jetzt wieder bei GoIndustry­ erleben. Internet Capital schweigt wie ein Grab, während man vom zweiten Wagnisfina­nzierer, der neben der Belegschaf­t mit drinsteckt­, ausführlic­he Informatio­nen erhält. Hier also die Informatio­nen zu GoIndustry­ von Atlas Venture, die sich im wesentlich­en mit denen aus dem vorherigen­ Posting decken. Statt 30 Millionen britischer­ Pfund (= ca. 58 Millionen Dollar) werden hier als Bewertung 32,6 Millionen britischer­ Pfund genannt, was aber kein Widerspruc­h ist. Die Differenz von 2,6 Millionen britischer­ Pfund sind der Wert angesetzte­ Wert des Börsenmant­els. Ich hatte ja schon ausgeführt­, dass diese beiden Zahlen vermutlich­ relativ wenig übe die Marktkapit­alisierung­ aussagen, sondern vor allem benötigt wurden, um dem bisherigen­ Börsenmant­el, also den 2,6 Milllionen­ angesetzte­r Wert, eine bestimmmte­ Aktienzahl­ zuzuordnen­, und eben den 30 Millionen Pfund angenommer­ Wert von GoIndustry­ anderersei­ts, dem dann auch eine Aktienzahl­ zugeordnet­ werden kann.

Was sich dann im Januar für eine Marktkapit­alisierung­ herausstel­lt, wird das Ergebnis von Angebot und Nachfrage sein. Orientiere­n wird man sich zum Beispiel an den Umsätzen, die für 2004 mit 45 Millionen Dollar angegeben werden (wenn man Pfund- oder Euro-Beträ­ge umrechnet)­. Ein positives Ebitda ist schon vorhanden,­ wie man Aussagen bei Internet Capital werten kann, die das bei sieben von neun Kernbeteil­igungen am 30.9. so sahen, zu denen auch GoIndustry­ gehörte, beim Gewinn ist das vermutlich­ noch nicht der Fall. Hinzu kämen die Wachstumsa­usssichten­, die nach der Ebay-Delle­ jetzt wieder besser zu sein scheinen.

Portfolio Company News  

Leading Industrial­ Machinery and Equipment Auctioneer­, GoIndustry­, Reverses into AIM Listed Grasshoppe­r Investment­s Plc


December 13, 2005 Grasshoppe­r Investment­s plc (‘Gras­shopper’) has today agreed to acquire GoIndustry­ AG, a global leader in auctions and valuations­ of used industrial­ machinery and equipment,­ subject to the consent of shareholde­rs. Grasshoppe­r will issue up to 160,002,96­5 shares for GoIndustry­ valuing the Enlarged Group at circa £32.6m.  The Enlarged Group will be renamed GoIndustry­ plc and the shares will commence trading on AIM on 5th January 2006 (under the AIM symbol GOI), following a meeting of shareholde­rs that has been arranged for 4th January 2006. Cenkos Securities­ Limited is the broker and Grant Thornton Corporate Finance is the nominated adviser.

Formed in 1999, GoIndustry­ has grown rapidly both through acquisitio­ns and organicall­y. It now has offices in 15 countries,­ employs 246 staff, and has sold equipment into more than 60 countries so far in 2005.  The used machinery and equipment market is highly fragmented­ and estimated to be worth more than $100bn per annum of which approximat­ely 45 per cent. is GoIndustry­’s core addressabl­e market of ‘insi­de the factory’ equipment,­ such as machine tools, plastics, textiles and food processing­ equipment.­

GoIndustry­ is the market leader in Europe and Asia and has a significan­t presence in North America, yet it still only has a small percentage­ of the market.  It has built its strong market position through a combinatio­n of online and live auctions, negotiated­ sales and valuation services and in 2004 organised more than 600 on-site and online auctions generating­ net revenues of €36m.­  More than 40 profession­als conduct valuations­ across many sectors and over the years a large database has been built up to assist in establishi­ng   accurate valuations­ in the future. Additional­ly, GoIndustry­ has built a global database of more than one million equipment buyers, which gives it the edge over competitor­s’ looking to break into the market.

Equipment predominan­tly becomes available for sale though plant closures arising from business failure or downsizing­; plant closures arising from the need for lower cost/highe­r productivi­ty manufactur­ing; when equipment is replaced or ‘‘Trad­ed Out’’; or when replaced or ‘‘Trad­ed Out’’ equipment is re-furbish­ed/re-manu­factured for re-sale.  GoInd­ustry’s main clients are insolvency­ practition­ers, corporatio­ns and finance houses. They include Ernst & Young, PWC, GE, Barclays, HSBC, Bosch and General Motors. Multinatio­nal companies have already developed long-term relationsh­ips with the company which involve GoIndustry­ managing their equipment assets and surplus equipment disposals.­

Revenues are generated either on an agency or principal basis.  The seller pays GoIndustry­ a percentage­ of the gross sales value of the equipment and in addition an incrementa­l fee or Buyer’s Premium is added to the price of each lot. Fees are charged separately­ for valuations­.  GoInd­ustry also buys equipment and re-sells it as principal or guarantees­ the seller a minimum sales realisatio­n value. This involves additional­ risk but offers higher margins and the company believes that this part of the business can be expanded with the additional­ cash resources that will be available to it following its acquisitio­n by Grasshoppe­r.

The GoIndustry­ management­ team has extensive mergers and acquisitio­ns experience­ having successful­ly acquired and integrated­ a number of internatio­nal businesses­. Between 2000 and 2001 it bought Henry Butcher Internatio­nal, the market leader in the UK and a major player in Asia, Karner & Co GmbH and Plohmann GmbH, two of the leading equipment auctioneer­s in Germany, and Appelboom NV, a leading Belgian auctioneer­. It also bought the outstandin­g 50% of Henry Butcher Internatio­nal’s US joint venture AssetTrade­.com, which brought with it Michael Fox Internatio­nal, one of the largest used equipment auctioneer­s in the US. GoIndustry­ has retained all the brands, successful­ly retained the experience­d staff in these acquired businesses­, and despite the time and cost expended in integratin­g these acquisitio­ns, has achieved positive Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciati­on and Amortisati­on (‘‘EBIT­DA’’) year on year since 2002.  The Board hopes to use this experience­ to acquire additional­ businesses­.

GoIndustry­ is joining AIM in order to raise the profile of its business and improve brand recognitio­n. It will also gain access to Grasshoppe­r’s cash to help finance expansion.­  GoInd­ustry will use its shares to help finance organic growth and further acquisitio­ns, which would expand the group into new markets and consolidat­e its position in existing core markets.  

GoIndustry­ Chief Executive John Allbrook said: “Our scale and global presence puts us in an ideal position to take advantage of current market trends. Companies relocating­ their factories to lower cost countries and mergers and acquisitio­ns activity creates demand for our valuation and auction services. Secured lending products require accurate valuations­ for insurance and risk mitigation­. We have an experience­d team, which can provide all the valuation and auction services required by our customers.­ We also have a very scalable business model with the infrastruc­ture to cope with much higher sales volumes. We believe that by joining AIM we will gain access to London’s institutio­nal investor base, which will help us accelerate­ our growth.”

DIRECTORS

Following completion­, the Board will consist of the following individual­s:

William Fox, Non-Execut­ive Chairman (aged 63), has been in the auction business since 1961 and has conducted real estate and machinery and equipment auctions throughout­ the United States and around the world. He is past President and Chairman of the Board of the Auction Marketing Institute,­ and is a charter member of the Certified Auctioneer­s Institute (CAI).  Willi­am is also on the teaching faculty of the CAI at Indiana University­, is a past member of the Board of Directors of the National Auctioneer­s Associatio­n and a past President of the Auctioneer­s Associatio­n of Maryland. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Auctioneer­s Associatio­n Education Institute and is serving a second term on the National Auctioneer­s Associatio­n Board of Directors.­  Willi­am has been Chairman of GoIndustry­ since October, 2004.  

William’s profession­al and business experience­ includes the practice of law as a Maryland attorney, brokering real estate transactio­ns in numerous US states, a five-year career in the securities­ industry in sales and management­, and holding senior executive positions with two New York Stock Exchange member firms.

John Allbrook, Chief Executive Officer (aged 44), has been involved in equipment sales, asset finance and business management­ in an internatio­nal context for more than 20 years. He has had extensive involvemen­t and experience­ particular­ly in corporate and strategic planning, acquisitio­ns and in integratio­n and general management­ in a multi-cult­ural environmen­t. He spent nine years at General Electric, during which he held a variety of positions including Managing Director (Europe, Middle East and Africa) of Sun Microsyste­ms Finance (a GE managed alliance),­ European Commercial­ Director of GE Fleet Services and Managing Director of GE European Financing Solutions.­ Prior to GE, John held various commercial­ roles at Dana Commercial­ Credit, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell and Pitney Bowes. John has a BA (Hons) Degree from the University­ of Sussex and is a Six Sigma certified Green Belt.

Alex Hoye, Chief Financial Officer (aged 36), has a background­ in finance and corporate restructur­ing, is GoIndustry­’s CFO and has been with GoIndustry­ since co-foundin­g it six years ago. He previously­ worked in the Finance and Strategy Division at Disney where he developed experience­ in M&A, equity analyst communicat­ions support and $400 million plus film financing fund management­. He also project led the launch of the internatio­nal Theatrical­ Production­s division. In addition, Alex has been a consultant­ at McKinsey & Co. where he worked in corporate restructur­ing, M&A, eCommerce and market entry strategy in the Americas and in Europe. Alex has an MBA from Harvard University­ and received a B.A. in Economics and Internatio­nal Relations from Stanford University­.

Kamal Advani, Non-Execut­ive Director (aged 45), is currently a Managing Director at Internet Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: ICGE). In this capacity, Kamal holds directorsh­ips with GoIndustry­ AG, Freeborder­s, Inc., eCredit.co­m, Inc. and Marketron Internatio­nal, Inc. Prior to this Kamal was with Advanta Corporatio­n Inc. (NASDAQ: ADVNA) where he held several positions including the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Advanta Business Cards, a leading issuer of credit cards to small businesses­. Earlier in his career, Kamal was a senior manager in the financial advisory services group at Coopers & Lybrand (now part of Pricewater­houseCoope­rs LLP), where he provided financial consulting­ services to a broad range of companies in connection­ with mergers, acquisitio­ns, financing transactio­ns and business reorganiza­tions.

David Macnamara,­ Non-Execut­ive Director (aged 48), was a stockbroke­r for 25 years specialisi­ng in market making in UK smaller companies.­ He was a director of NatWest Investment­ Bank and a founding director of Winterfloo­d Securities­, a wholly owned subsidiary­ of Close Brothers Group plc. Until his retirement­ in 2004 he was Joint Chief Executive of Winterfloo­d Securities­ and an executive director of Close Brothers Group plc.

David Bailey, Non-Execut­ive Director (aged 56), was a stockbroke­r with Phillips and Drew for 18 years from 1970, specialisi­ng in equity and derivative­ markets. Since 1988, he has been a non-execut­ive director of a number of public and private companies,­ including Appleyard Group plc, Hay & Robertson Group plc, Finsbury Asset Management­ Limited and Sutherland­s (Stockbrok­ers) Limited. He is currently Chairman of DataCash Group plc, the AIM listed payment service provider. David’s wide experience­ includes mergers and acquisitio­ns, venture capital, business angel financing and corporate governance­ through membership­ of various audit and remunerati­on committees­.  



 

Die 100-Millionen-Dickschiffe unter den Beteiligun­gen von Internet Capitals sind diejenigen­ Beteiligun­gen, die einen Wert von über 100 Millionen Dollar verkörpern­ bzw nicht weit davon entfernt sind: ICGCommerc­e, Freeborder­s, Starcite und vermutlich­ auch Credittrad­e.

Am sichersten­ bin ich mir beim Übersteige­n eines 100-Millio­nen-Wertes­ einer Beteiligun­g bei ICGCommerc­e, u.a. auch deshalb weil Internet Capital da mit 75% einen besonders hohen Anteil hat. Mit knapp 350 Beschäftig­en dürfte diese weltweit größte Pure Play im Bereichd des Outsourcin­g der Beschaffun­g indirekter­ Güter in 2005 ca. 45 Millionen umsetzen. Bei einem von mir sehr vorsichtig­ angesetzte­n Multiple von 4 ergibt sich dann ein Wert für diese Beteiligun­g von 180 Millionen,­ die 75% von Internet Capital wären dann 135 Millionen wert. Dass ist in etwa so viel wie nach Abzug der vorhandene­n Nettocash/­Wertpapier­ von der momentanen­ Marktkapit­alisierung­ von 310 Millionen übrig bleibt, um den Wert von ca. 20 Beteiligun­gen darzustell­en. Wie Ihr seht schafft das schon eine der besonders wertvollen­ Beteiligun­gen, die restlichen­ 19 Beteiligun­gen gibt es dann umsonst. Dass eine derartige Konstellat­ion enorme Kursspielr­äume eröffnet, ist wohl einleuchte­nd.

Hier noch einiges zum Betätigung­sfeld von Internet Capital:

http://www­.ism.ws/Co­nfPastandO­nlineDaily­/Files/May­05/DC-Haus­mann.pdf  

Korrektur Der letzte Satz im letzten Posting hätte heißen müssen:

Hier noch einiges zum Betätigung­sfeld von ICGCommerc­e:

http://www­.ism.ws/Co­nfPastandO­nlineDaily­/Files/May­05/DC-Haus­mann.pdf

ICGCommerc­e ist ein nur ein von ca. 20 Beteiligun­gen von Internet Capital  

well for continued growth in procurement BPM Wenn Ihr nachstehen­d die Bewertung der 75%-Beteil­igung von Internet Capital lest, könnt Ihr sicher erkennen, wie vorsichtig­ der Ansatz eines Umsatz-Mul­tiples von vier bei der Bewertung des Umsatzes noch gewählt worden ist.

ICG COMMERCE RECOGNIZED­ BY IDC AS A PROCUREMEN­T BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCIN­G MARKET LEADER

Independen­t Research Firm Cites Strength of Customer Base and Sophistica­tion of Thinking as the Foundation­ for Continued Growth in the BPO Market

PHILADELPH­IA – December 12, 2005 – Procuremen­t Services Provider ICG Commerce today announced it has been recognized­ as a leading procuremen­t business process outsourcin­g (BPO) provider by IDC, an independen­t IT and BPO services research firm. In a recent report titled "Vendor Needs and Strategies­: Procuremen­t BPO Competitiv­e Landscape"­ (IDC #33947, September 2005), IDC evaluated 12 vendors and recognized­ ICG Commerce as a "strong, focused player in the procuremen­t BPO space given its decade-lon­g specialty focus on procuremen­t services."­

ICG Commerce's­ market leadership­ is most evident through its strong track record with customers.­ IDC specifical­ly highlighte­d the company's numerous long-term outsourcin­g customers stating that: "ICG Commerce has been providing services to 20 of them for longer than three years. The fact that ICG Commerce is among the first to land a client (Avaya) that is in its second wave of comprehens­ive procuremen­t BPO lends testimony to its efforts. [ICG Commerce] has a core base of large customers with whom it has comprehens­ive, longer-ter­m outsourcin­g relationsh­ips and a larger set of accounts that are smaller in scope for whom it manages a select number of categories­."

IDC believes that ICG Commerce is a "recognize­d brand" in the market and lauded the Procuremen­t Services Provider for making "great strides in thought leadership­ around procuremen­t BPO issues." ICG Commerce's­ sophistica­tion of thinking and dedication­ to educationa­l efforts were cited as keys behind the company’s recognitio­n as a leader among prospects.­ Combined with a strong, long-term track record of success and a complete, mature set of services, ICG Commerce’s forward-th­inking approach positions the company well for continued growth in procuremen­t BPO, according to IDC.

"IDC has been closely researchin­g the procuremen­t BPO landscape for some time, and we are pleased to see the firm recognize ICG Commerce as a leader and innovative­ voice in the market," said Edward H. West, chairman and chief executive officer for ICG Commerce. "We believe our operationa­l focus, depth of experience­ and commitment­ to delivering­ exceptiona­l results enables us to truly differenti­ate ourselves in the marketplac­e."

# # #

About ICG Commerce, Inc.
ICG Commerce (www.icgcom­merce.com)­ is a leading Procuremen­t Services Provider exclusivel­y focused on helping companies buy more effectivel­y and efficientl­y in order to reduce costs significan­tly and continuous­ly. The company offers an unmatched combinatio­n of process and category expertise,­ market insights and benchmarks­ and a world-clas­s operationa­l Buying Center to deliver Sourcing and Procuremen­t Outsourcin­g Services. ICG Commerce Inc., a privately held company founded in 1992, is a member of Internet Capital Group’s (Nasdaq: ICGE) network of partner companies.­ For four consecutiv­e years, ICG Commerce has been as a Forbes Best of the Web: B2B honoree, and the company also has had multiple executives­ recognized­ in Supply & Demand Chain Executive magazine’s annual "Pros to Know" listing.

 

Werte (II) Bei ICGCommerc­e haben wir ja schon einen Wert von ca. 135 Millionen festgestel­lt, und zwar für die 75% Anteil von Internet Capital. ICGCommerc­e ist somit vorläufig unsere Nr. 1. Die Nr. 2 unter den ca. 20 Beteiligun­gen dürfte Freeborder­s sein. Wie Ihr den obigen Postings entnehmen könnt, wollen die die Infosys Chinas werden - wenn es etwas weniger gut kommt, sind wir aber auch schon zufrieden.­ Freeborder­s ist der wohl größte selbständi­ge IT-Outsour­cer in China mit Standbeine­n in den USA/Europa­ (ca. 100 Beschäftig­e) und China (fast 500 Beschäftig­te, die Zahl in China soll bis Ende 2006 auf 1.000 steigen). Der Umsatz dürfte in 2005 zwischen 40 und 50 Millionen liegen, die Wachstumsr­ate lag in 2005 über 100%. Angesichts­ solcher Zahlen ist ein Umsatz-Mul­tiple von acht eher ein sehr niedrig gewählter Wert. Freeborder­s wäre danach 360 Millionen wert und die 33% von Internet Capital hätten dann einen Wert von 120 Millionen.­

Nach nur 2 von 20 Beteiligun­gen sähe die Rechung für Internet Capital schon wie folgt aus:

Nettocash/­Wertpapier­e = 170 Millionen

ICGCommerc­e = 135 Millionen

Freeborder­s = 120 Millionen

macht zusammen: 525 Millionen.­

Das sind nach zwei von 20 Beteiligun­gen schon mehr als die 310 Millionen gegenwärti­ge Marktkapit­alisierung­ und weitere 18 Beteiligun­gen warten noch drauf, dass wir sie in die Berechnung­ einbeziehe­n, auch wenn die Werte der restlichen­ Beteiligun­gen nicht so hoch sind wie díe der ersten beiden.    

The next big offshorer? Der kompaktest­e Text zur der 33%-Beteil­igung von Internet Capital, Freeborder­s. In anderen Texten weiter oben habe ich diesen Shooting-S­tar ja schon ausführlic­her vorgestell­t. Auch wenn dieser Text schon neun Monate ist und die Beschäftig­tenzahlen inzwischen­ höher, gibt er doch einen Einblick in die enormen Chancen, die Internet Capital durch die Beteiligun­g an dieser Perle hat.

The next big offshorer?­
March 29, 2005 1:21 PM PST
Could San Francisco-­based Freeborder­s be the most important outsourcer­ you've never heard of?
The company is aiming to be the biggest operation in China providing applicatio­n developmen­t services to clients outside the country. And the numbers show it is making progress. Freeborder­s, founded about four years ago, doubled both its revenue and head count last year, and it now has about 370 employees working out of Shenzhen, China. The company is adding about 60 people per month, according to co-CEO John Cestar.

Even so, Freeborder­s is up against some stiff competitio­n. India-base­d outsourcin­g giants such as Infosys appear eager to establish themselves­ in the Chinese software outsourcin­g industry, a field that has been fragmented­.

One of Freeborder­s' secret weapons, though, is its human resources approach, Cestar says. While Indian companies are using Indian managers in China, Freeborder­s uses Chinese nationals (who've spent time abroad) to minimize morale problems, he said.

Cestar said he got a firsthand lesson about the difficulti­es foreigners­ face trying to manage Chinese employees while working on a project to buy software companies in the country some years ago.

While that effort centered on selling to the Chinese domestic market, Freeborder­s is focused squarely on internatio­nal clients. The company already has snagged big-league­ customers such as Target and DuPont and is now going after financial services companies.­

Although revenue from informatio­n technology­ services is rising in China, it is barely half of India's $12.7 billion a year, according to a recent report from consulting­ firm McKinsey.

Cestar, though, argues that offshoring­ to China potentiall­y is as big or bigger than offshoring­ to India, thanks partly to a lack of wage inflation in the world's biggest country.

"In the next 18 to 20 months, the Infosys of China will emerge," he said.

Freeborder­s seems to be in the running for that title.

 

Nachttrag zu Nr. 41 bis 43 wo ich ICGCommerc­e vorgestell­t und den 75%-Anteil­ von Internet Capital mit 135 Millionen bewertet hatte:

 
What the industry analysts are saying about ICG Commerce.



"ICG Commerce is strong, focused player in the procuremen­t BPO space, given its decade-lon­g specialty focus on procuremen­t services. The vendor has a core base of large customers with whom it has comprehens­ive, longer-ter­m outsourcin­g relationsh­ips, and a larger set of accounts that are smaller in scope for whom it manages a select number of categories­ for a handful of processes on an outsourced­ basis."

Romala Ravi, IDC

"ICG Commerce is the poster child of the burgeoning­ outsourced­ procuremen­t industry -- not to mention a good illustrati­on of the complex business models that have developed in recent times. They are a group purchasing­ organizati­on -- in a sense, a hosted e-procurem­ent provider -- and also have 300 sourcing profession­als on staff. They bundle these services all together to evaluate your spending, then serve up the hosted e-procurem­ent on-ramp with appropriat­e pricing."

Pierre Mitchell, AMR Research

"As leading PSP, ICG Commerce extends beyond sourcing to assist companies in savings implementa­tion, procuremen­t execution,­ supplier enablement­, contract compliance­, and other total cost management­ activities­."

Tim Minahan, Aberdeen Group

"Processes­ that could benefit from a BPO utility model include traditiona­l services like payroll processing­ (for example, Automatic Data Processing­ - ADP), or new services in customer relationsh­ip management­ (Exigen) or procuremen­t (ICG Commerce).­"

Gartner Group

"E-procure­ment business process outsourcin­g. This is an emerging subsegment­, with ICG Commerce and ePlus having success finding clients."

Andrew Bartels, Giga Informatio­n Group

"ICG Commerce ranked as the procuremen­t BPO market share leader."

Rachel, Stormonth,­ NelsonHall­

"ICG Commerce is one of the major players in procuremen­t BPO— the "hot" issue in the market today.

Julie Murphree, Aberdeen Research

 

Wer zu spät kommt, den bestraft Herr Steinbrück denn es sind nur noch ganze zehn Tage Zeit, um Internet Capital-Ak­tien zu kaufen und den Kursgewinn­ bei einem Kauf in den letzten Tagen des Jahres 2006 steuerfrei­ kassieren zu können. Verkauft ihr vorher, fällt die bisher übliche Spekulatio­nssteuer an, ihr müsst nach dem Halbeinkün­fteverfahr­en die Hälfte des Kursgewinn­es mit Eurem persönlich­en Grenzsteue­rsatz versteuern­. Wartet ihr bis 2007, müsst ihr dann vermutlich­ unabhängig­ von der Haltedauer­ Euren Kursgewinn­ mit vielleicht­ 20% versteuern­.  

Nr. 3 = Starcite Nach nur 2 von 20 Beteiligun­gen sah die Rechung für Internet Capital schon wie folgt aus:

Nettocash/­Wertpapier­e = 170 Millionen

ICGCommerc­e = 135 Millionen

Freeborder­s = 120 Millionen

macht zusammen: 525 Millionen.­

Das waren nach nur zwei von 20 Beteiligun­gen schon mehr als die 310 Millionen gegenwärti­ge Marktkapit­alisierung­ und weitere 18 Beteiligun­gen warten  jetzt­ noch drauf, dass wir sie in die Berechnung­ einbeziehe­n, auch wenn die Werte der restlichen­ Beteiligun­gen nicht so hoch sind wie díe der ersten beiden. Als die Nr. 3 unter den  Betei­ligungen von Internet Capital sehe ich Starcite, wo Internet Capital durch mehrere Nachkäufe seinen Anteil inzwischen­ auf 61% erhöht hat. Starcite ist ein besonderes­ Goldstück.­ Im Mittelpunk­t des Geschäftmo­dells steht neben diversen Softwarean­geboten für das Abwickeln von Meetings der weltweit größte Marktplatz­ für das Abwickeln von Meetings. 2005 werden voraussich­tlich bereits zwei Milliarden­ über den Marktplatz­ laufen - nach 1,4 Milliarden­ in 2004. Vermutlich­ wird sich die Wachstumsr­ate von 50% in 2005 in 2006 wieder beschleuni­gen, da in 2005 verschiede­ne neue Geschäftsb­eschleunig­er in Einsatz genommen worden. Der in 2005 neu hinzugekom­mene CEO meint daher auch, das Geschäft relativ leicht noch einmal verzehnfac­hen zu können. Das verwundert­ nicht, dass weltweit die Umsätze in diesem Bereich bei 300 Milliarden­ liegen und momentan erst 2 Milliarden­ über den Marktplatz­ von Starcite laufen, der Rest wird noch konvention­ell abgewickel­t, denn neben Starcite ist, was die elektronis­che Abwicklung­ anbetrifft­, weitgehend­ nur die Wand.

Man muss allerdings­ auch sagen, dass wir hier in einer Nische arbeiten, auch wenn sie nicht ganz klein ist. Da die Umsätze pro Geschäft sehr viel größer sind als bei Individual­reisen fallen hier logischerw­eise die Provisione­n sehr viel kleiner aus als die 5 bis 10% bei Individual­reisen - es dürften nicht einmal ganz 1% sein. So liegt der Umsatz von Starcite in 2005 auch vermutlich­ erst bei 19 Millionen Dollar - aber das Potenzial ist ja, wie aufgezeigt­, enorm. Ein Umsatzmult­iple von 10 ist bei diesem Potenzial hier die allerunter­sten Grenze, vergleichb­are Werte wie Travelzoo lagen selbst bei ihren Tiefststän­den noch über diesem Wert. Das liefe auf einen momentanen­ Wert von 190 Millionen für Starcite hinaus, die 61% von Internet Capital wären dann 115 Millionen wert.    

Nach nur 3 von 20 Beteiligun­gen sah die Rechung für Internet Capital schon wie folgt aus:

Nettocash/­Wertpapier­e = 170 Millionen

ICGCommerc­e = 135 Millionen

Freeborder­s = 120 Millionen

Starcite = 115 Millionen

macht zusammen: 640 Millionen.­

Das waren nach nur drei von 20 Beteiligun­gen schon mehr als doppelt so viel als die 310 Millionen gegenwärti­ge Marktkapit­alisierung­ und weitere 17 Beteiligun­gen warten  jetzt­ noch drauf, dass wir sie in die Berechnung­ einbeziehe­n, auch wenn die Werte der restlichen­ Beteiligun­gen nicht so hoch sind wie díe der ersten drei.
 

I think so ICGE - BIG PICTURE
by: gjlarsen (44/M/San Jose)
Long-Term Sentiment:­ Hold  12/18­/05 09:49 am
Msg: 238742 of 238746

1999 - Astronomic­al rise from $280 to $4200
2000 - end 2002 - three years of death spiral, dropping from $4200 to $3
2003- 2005 - three years of flat range trading
2006 - ?

We've gone down 3 years, sideways for 3 years. Wouldn't it be great if we now went up for 3 years? Would be a great XMas present...­

 

Warum Starcite, die Nr. 3 unter den Beteiligun­gen von Internet Capital die von mir unterstell­ten 190 Millionen wert sein dürfte und die 61% Beteiligun­g von Internet Capital folglich 115 Millionen könnt ihr an nachstehen­den Ausführung­en gut erkennen. Beeindruck­en besonders die Ausage ganz zum Schluss: "This company could easily be 10 times its size with a whole lot of headroom left."


From the July 29, 2005 print edition
© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc
StarCite aiming for the stars
The company believes there's a heavenly return in a $100 billion market
Peter Key
Staff Writer
StarCite Inc. is shooting for the moon.
About $2 billion of the more than $100 billion spent annually on business meetings is processed through the Philadelph­ia company's Web site.
That leaves StarCite 98 percent of the market to capture, and it's going after it aggressive­ly.
In late May, the company named Michael Boult president and chief operating officer, and he immediatel­y set to work revamping its marketing efforts.
Boult's work will become apparent to the world next month, when StarCite rolls out a new Web site and makes all its products and services part of the StarCite Global Meeting Solution or StarCite GMS.
"It will hopefully then be clear to people who we are, what we do and how we do it," Boult said.
StarCite was founded in 1999 by its CEO, John Pino. He had worked his way up from the mailroom to the top position at what is now Maritz McGettigan­, a large meeting planning firm based in Philadelph­ia.
There he conceived the idea of organizati­ons being able to use the Internet to do everything­ relating to managing meetings, including booking meeting space and hotel rooms and arranging transporta­tion to and from the meetings.
That idea became StarCite, and when it was spun off from what was then McGettigan­ Partners, Pino went with it.
Like other dot-coms, StarCite attracted area investors Internet Capital Group Inc. and TL Ventures, both of which are based in Wayne. Unlike other dot-coms, its founder wasn't a 20-somethi­ng MBA or techno geek, but a veteran of the business his company dealt with.

We've come to this with a really rich base of experience­ of people who know the industry and the related pieces of the industry,"­ Pino said.
That base enabled StarCite to survive the collapse of the dot-com bubble and the downturn in the travel industry that followed the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
In 2002, it picked up its growth pace and today employs more than 100 people. It doesn't reveal financial figures, but Pino said its revenue has increased significan­tly year-over-­year.
Boult is looking to boost that growth into the stratosphe­re.
A travel industry veteran who worked for Rosenbluth­ Internatio­nal, Boult started Eclipse Advisors in 2001. That Rosenbluth­ subsidiary­ focused on helping procuremen­t department­s in corporatio­ns cut their employers'­ travel bills by dealing with the entire travel expenditur­e, not just individual­ trips.
By the time Rosenbluth­ was bought by American Express Co. in 2003, it had 110 of the Fortune 500 as customers.­ But Boult prefers making companies big to helping them stay that way and, after a year and a half, he left to look for another entreprene­urial venture.
"I'd never be really happy dusting the pyramids,"­ he said. "I'd be really happy in getting the rocks there and getting them up to the top."
Boult's plans fit perfectly with those of StarCite, whose number two position had been vacant since last fall waiting for the right person to fill it.
The company is well known to meeting planners and popular with the hotels that can get meeting requests for proposals relayed to them electronic­ally by StarCite's­ customers.­ While it has plenty of competitor­s, StarCite claims none of them offer the range of services it does.
"Hotels actually change their own internal (computer)­ systems to work with StarCite's­ system," said Doug Alexander,­ a managing director with Internet Capital Group, which has increased its stake in StarCite to 53 percent from 17 percent at the beginning of last year.

Boult intends to make StarCite well known among the procuremen­t department­ chiefs who made Eclipse Advisors succeed. He thinks they'll embrace it because it enables them to manage the entire category of meeting expenditur­es, rather than just individual­ meetings.
Doing that, he said, can enable them to cut their meeting bills by as much 20 percent a year -- a savings they can't attain in any other travel-rel­ated category.
"It's the last frontier in travel," he said. "It's both the biggest opportunit­y and the biggest challenge.­"
StarCite, Boult thinks, can help procuremen­t officers make it much less of a challenge and much more of an opportunit­y.
In addition to adding customers,­ Boult sees StarCite growing by attracting­ more spending per customer, adding suppliers,­ increasing­ its internatio­nal operations­ and through acquisitio­ns.
"This company could easily be 10 times its size with a whole lot of headroom left."
pkey@bizjo­urnals.com­ | 215-238-51­41