Miracom Enters Into Exclusive Letter of Intent With Okabe
30 November 1999
Miracom Enters Into Exclusive Letter of Intent With Okabe, a Major Parts Supplier to Delphi, JCI, Freightliner and Volvo
Okabe to Use Parts.com as Exclusive Provider of Online Business-to-Business
Parts Exchange for Aftermarket Parts
Agreement Provides Okabe With First E-Commerce Platform that Combines Online
Transactions and Real-time Research Technology
SANFORD, Fla. and VERNON HILLS, Ill., Nov. 30 -- Miracom
Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: MIRM), a developer and owner of
business-to-business e-commerce services and the holding company for
Parts.com(TM), a business-to-business e-commerce parts exchange and
ReallyKnow.com, a real-time data gathering system which is revolutionizing the
research industry, today announced that it has signed an exclusive binding
letter of intent with Illinois-based Okabe Co., Inc. in which Okabe will use
Parts.com as its exclusive provider of online business-to-business parts
exchange to the aftermarket parts industry.
Okabe Co. is a Tier One supplier for OEM and aftermarket parts to some of
the largest parts companies, including Delphi, JCI, Freightliner and Volvo,
generating annual revenues from parts sales of approximately $400 million.
Okabe Co., Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Okabe Ltd., a Japanese-based
conglomerate with annual sales in excess of $1 billion. Okabe Ltd. is traded
on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
"The strategic addition of Okabe to Parts.com as a premiere e-commerce
aftermarket parts supplier attests to the appeal of our unique e-commerce
business model to part suppliers around the globe," said Shawn D. Lucas,
Chairman and Co-CEO of Miracom Corporation. "We believe this alliance will
represent the first of many additional Tier One suppliers we expect to sign-on
in the near future in advance of the launch of Parts.com in January 2000,"
concluded Mr. Lucas.
"Parts.com has a terrific model that brings value to all participating
links in the supply chain by encompassing both "brick and mortar" and
e-commerce," stated Robert Neal, President of Okabe. "They have found a
solution which exploits the inefficiencies in today's supply chain and
maximizes the efficiencies. There is finally an alternative for parts
suppliers around the world -- Parts.com. I look forward to introducing Shawn
and his management team to additional global parts manufacturers to
participate and contribute to Parts.com's short and long term growth
prospects," concluded Mr. Neal.
Parts.com is expected to provide a business-to-business e-commerce
solution for the $600 billion auto parts industry. The site is expected to
create value for all users, including manufacturers, distributors and parts
buyers, as a result of its unique, direct business model which eliminates a
number of inefficient links in the supply chain inherent in the auto parts
business.
About Okabe Co., Ltd.
Okabe Co., Ltd., Japan, which was founded in 1944 as a manufacturer of
construction materials, has grown into a diversified international company.
The company is listed in the first section of Tokyo Stock Exchange and has
approximately forty (40) subsidiaries in Japan and four (4) international
subsidiaries in the U.S., Canada, Hong Kong, and China. The company
participates in various industries including construction, automotive, hotel,
and biotechnology.
About Miracom Corporation
Miracom Corporation is a developer and owner of business-to-business
e-commerce services and the holding company for Parts.com(TM) and
ReallyKnow.com(TM). Based in Sanford, Florida, Miracom Corporation owns and
operates the Parts.com(TM) ( http://www.parts.com ), an e-commerce business-to-
business parts exchange, and ReallyKnow.com (TM) ( http://www.ReallyKnow.com ), a
Web-enabled real-time data gathering system which is revolutionizing the
research field. Other products developed and owned by Miracom include:
Epolicy(TM), a Web-enabled, back-end software; and QuickQuote 2000(TM), the
front-end complement to Epolicy(TM).
(This news release includes statements that may constitute forward-looking
statements pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although Miracom Corporation believes the
expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on
reasonable assumptions; it can give no assurance that its expectations will be
met. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
Miracom's expectations include the operational performance of parts.com, the
Company's success in entering into strategic alliances, Parts.com's and
ReallyKnow.com's operational and financial performance, industry conditions,
demand for its products as well as other risks.)