International Card Establishment (I.C.E.) Acquires Gift & Loyalty Company Neos Merchant Solutions for $7.5 Million
Acquisition to Accelerate I.C.E.’s Revenue Growth and Complement Existing Gift and Loyalty Division
I.C.E. 2004 Pro forma Revenues Expected to Exceed $22 Million
Oxnard, California –September 8, 2004—International Card Establishment, Inc. (I.C.E.) (OTCBB: ICRD) today announced that it has completed its acquisition of Neos Merchant Solutions, Inc., an Irvine, California Gift and Loyalty provider in exchange for a combination of cash, debt and stock valued at $7,500,000.
Founded in May 2002, Neos is a national provider of Gift and Loyalty card processing, electronic payment, and Point-Of-Sale (POS) equipment integration, providing all forms of non-cash payment transactions, including credit and debit card and Gift and Loyalty, and check-from merchant point-of-sale terminals.
Neos offers a comprehensive array of Gift and Loyalty card services, providing superior service by designing, encoding, printing and fulfilling all of its customer orders. This degree of vertical integration allows the company to service its customers in a fraction of the time that its competitors – who typically outsource some or all of these processes – take to fill orders.
Currently, Neos has 35 employees providing a host of support services to complement its 65 external sales agents who operate through five direct offices nationwide in Baltimore, Maryland, Charlotte, North Carolina, Tampa, Florida, and Los Angeles and Irvine, California. Additionally, Neos has established a relationship with a major Midwest diversified financial services company that markets Neos’ Gift and Loyalty products to its customers.
Although Neos has concentrated its sales and marketing efforts to small and medium sized merchants, the company’s strong reputation for superior service has attracted a leading worldwide hospitality company and a national restaurant chain as customers, among others.
Neos revenues are expected to be between $6 million and $9 million for 2004 and $9 and $12 million in 2005. The wide range of Neos’ projected revenues is due to potential variations associated with certain large customers’ deployment of Gift and Loyalty products. The company is expected to be profitable in 2004.
“The acquisition of Neos immediately vaults us into the ranks of leading Gift and Loyalty companies, which is one of the fastest growing markets in financial services, growing from just $20 billion in 2000_ to an estimated $100 billion in 2004,”” said Jonathan Severn, Chairman & President, I.C.E. “Integrating Neos into I.C.E. will spawn multiple cross-selling opportunities, which should increase revenues in all three of our business units: bankcard, gift and loyalty and leasing.” Mr. Severn went on to add, “Neos’ management team, led by its president Wain Swapp will -- in addition to continue to shepherding Neos’ rapid growth – be instrumental in helping I.C.E. meet its revenue projection of $22 million (pro forma) in 2004, growing to $50 million (pro forma) in 2005 with profitable operations.”
“The entire Neos team is highly enthusiastic about joining I.C.E. and helping to build a rapidly growing financial services company,” said H. Wain Swapp, President & CEO, Neos Merchant Solutions. “ We not only believe that we will continue to succeed in expanding Neos’ business rapidly and profitably, but will also be able to help I.C.E. achieve growth in all of its business units.”
About Neos Merchant Solutions
Neos Merchant Solutions is full service payment processing company offering a turnkey solution to today’s retail merchants. Neos offers custom application development, electronic payment processing, card personalization services, terminal integration & deployment, and customer support. As an application developer, Neos has developed a variety of scalable smart card and mag stripe card applications utilizing all of the elements of stored value and frequency/loyalty card programs and services. Neos integrates its proprietary software to many of today’s POS terminal and cash register interfaces. In addition, Neos offers one of the most robust internet-based transaction collection and database reporting systems in the marketplace today.
About I.C.E.
www.cardnetone.com
I.C.E. is a rapidly growing provider of diversified products and services to
the electronic transaction processing industry. I.C.E. establishes merchant
accounts for businesses that enable them to accept credit cards, debit cards
and other forms of electronic payments; supplies point-of-sale systems;
facilitates processing; and markets a proprietary "Smart Card"-based system
that enables merchants to offer store-branded gift and loyalty cards.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject
to risks and uncertainties. Important factors which could cause actual
results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements,
include but are not limited to: the company's short operating history which
makes it difficult to predict its future results of operations; the
company's initial history of operating losses with possible future losses
which could impede its ability to address the risks and difficulties
encountered by companies in new and rapidly evolving markets; the company's
future operating results could fluctuate which may cause volatility or a
decline in the price of the company's stock; the possibility that the
company may not be able to price its services above the overall cost causing
its financial results to suffer; and other factors detailed in this press
release and in future company filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, at such time as the company is required to report its results of
operations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
Contact:
Jonathan Severn
Chairman & President, I.C.E.
(800) 414-7654 ext. 2007
email: jsevern@cardnetone.com
or
Investor Relations Contact:
WPH Consultants, Ltd.
Philippe Niemetz, toll-free: 800/477-7570
212/344-6464 email: philippe.niemetz@wphconsultants.com