BTLY the next ebay?
Bentley Acquires Crump Barter, the Largest Barter Network in North America with 180 Local Exchanges and 50,000 Merchant Members
Wednesday September 3, 9:06 am ET
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 3, 2003--Bentley Communications Corporation (OTCBB:BTLY - News) has acquired the assets of Crump Barter Systems Inc., with its predominantly North American network of 180 local barter exchanges and approximately 50,000 merchant members that trade through them. Joe Crump will be on the Bentley executive staff and manage its barter operations.
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Crump's growing membership represents approximately 30 percent of the barter exchanges in the USA and about 50 percent of those in Canada. It was founded in 1998 to bring efficiencies to the barter industry by providing a clearinghouse through which members of different barter exchanges worldwide can make available each other's inventory and services and trade seamlessly with one another. Bentley has historically focused on the implementation of alternative financial systems and ecommerce services. It recently announced its intention of being a major force in the barter industry.
"We feel, as do many knowledgeable barter professionals, that Crump Barter is the best positioned company within the industry," said Gordon Lee, Bentley's chairman and CEO. "Most important, we will be getting the Crump Barter team's expertise, and Joe Crump, one of the most highly regarded executives in the industry, to manage our barter operations. We see this as the first in a number of compatible acquisitions we anticipate completing in the following months that will position Bentley for extraordinary growth in the barter industry."
"A key characteristic of the barter industry, is the multitude of local and regional barter exchanges throughout the U.S. and Canada that provide valuable intermediary services to the companies engaged in barter," said Mr. Lee. "A great many of them are already part of Crump Barter Systems. We want to increase the number exchanges within our system and empower them with our forthcoming state of the art, user-friendly, online software that will allow for integrated real-time transaction processing for barter dollars and a variety of currencies and payment methods."
"By joining with Bentley," said Mr. Crump, "we will have the resources to rapidly increase the size of our network, better assist our local exchanges to profitably grow and encourage our member companies to use our barter system on a regular and expanding basis. We also want every barter exchange that is part of our network, to have an ownership stake in our company. That is why each of our exchanges in good standing will receive Bentley restricted shares for loyalty and performance. They will be rewarded with additional restricted shares in the future, based on the attainment of objectives, such as barter volume increases and expansion of their member base."
"With the acquisition of Crump Barter, we have taken a major step, that should propel us towards establishing the nation's largest and most efficient online barter marketplace," concluded Mr. Lee. "We see barter as the most extraordinary online business opportunity today and for the foreseeable future. We want to do for barter what eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY - News) is doing for auctions. We want to be the catalyst that helps raise the domestic trade and barter industry to unlimited heights."
About the Barter Industry
The International Reciprocal Trade Association estimates that just in the U.S., over 470,000 companies actively participate in barter for a total of over $12 billion in annual sales. Over 65% of the corporations listed on the New York Stock Exchange are presently using barter to reduce surplus inventory, bolster sales and ensure that production facilities run at near capacity. The U.S. Department of Commerce estimates that 20 to 25% of world trade is now barter, and corporate barter is already a growing 20 billion dollar worldwide industry.
About Bentley Communications Corporation:
Bentley is positioning itself to be the domestic leader in the fast growing trade and barter industry. Bentley has historically focused on the implementation of alternative financial transactions and ecommerce services. In barter it has an ideal opportunity to apply its proprietary systems to enable barter exchanges, and the companies that barter through them, access round the clock to a user-friendly, online trade exchange -- tailored to their needs. A prime focus is to bring instant payment processing to the barter industry so that any merchant member will soon be able to transact trades online and in real time, whether it is credit, debit or ATM cards, barter dollars, cash or a blend.
Forward-Looking Statements:
With the exception of historical information, this news release and accompanying information may include forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated as a result of various risks. There are numerous factors that could contribute to such differences, therefore such projected events and anticipated results are not warranties or guaranties that such events will occur or that the Company will achieve such results. For more information about this corporation and risks involved in the investment of their publicly traded shares, please see the company's website(s), and/or documents filed with the SEC, which are easily accessible in the EDGAR database system.
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Contact:
Bentley Communications Corp.
Gordon Lee, 310-445-2599
Lee@BentleyCompanies.com
www.bentleycompanies.com
www.crumpbarter.com
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Source: Bentley Communications Corp.
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