Acquisition Gives eFuture a 51 Percent Majority Stake
BEIJING, May 14 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- eFuture Information Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: EFUT) ("eFuture"), a leading provider of front-end supply chain management software and services in China, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of a 51 percent stake in Wangku Hutong Information Technology Co., Ltd. ("Wangku"), a leading e-commerce company in China with a focus on the retail and fast-moving consumer goods ("FMCG") industries.
"We are excited to complete the second installment of our purchasing agreement, giving us a 51 percent majority stake in Wangku," said Mr. Adam Yan, eFuture’s chairman and chief executive officer. "This partnership has allowed us to develop innovative e-commerce solutions that connect Chinese suppliers and retailers. We’re looking forward to deepening our relationship with Wangku and continuing to pioneer e-commerce services in China’s rapidly growing retail and fast-moving consumer goods industries."
Wangku’s www.99114.com online marketplace helps connect domestic suppliers and buyers to conduct business in China. As of April 30,2008, the online business-to-business ("B2B") community consisted of retailers and suppliers from more than 250 industries such as food, home improvement, auto and others and covered over 120 regions in China.
"Both eFuture and Wangku continue to benefit from the synergies of our complementary businesses," continued Mr. Yan. "We are leveraging eFuture’s over 770 international and domestic retail clients, which utilize more than 700,000 suppliers, to increase the sales of B2B services. Going forward, we will continue building a trusted online and offline community of small-to-medium size suppliers in China and abroad, helping them search for suitable retail stores, exchange information, find new products and drive business with China’s retailers."
In April 2008, eFuture and Wangku launched a 100-day public testing pilot of their jointly-developed www.jindian.com.cn B2B website platform for small-to-medium size suppliers and retailers. The online platform provides a searchable database of subscriber-posted listings focusing on the retail and consumer goods industries with the goal of helping both China’s local and overseas suppliers enter into retail stores across China. The platform also enables China’s retailers to expand their procurement sources, increase procurement efficiency and reduce procurement costs.
In accordance with the terms and conditions of the agreement, eFuture first acquired 20 percent ownership of Wangku in May 2007. In the second installment, eFuture acquired an additional 31 percent ownership.
About Wangku Hutong Information Technology Co., Ltd.
Wangku is a leading provider of e-commerce solutions in China focusing on the retail and fast moving consumer goods industries. Through its www.99114.com and www.jindian.com.cn B2B websites, the company provides efficient, demand-driven and trusted platforms with a mission to connect buyers and suppliers across China into a total supply chain, from vendors to retailers. Wangku simplifies doing business in China by enabling an interactive B2B community across numerous product categories and regions to meet, chat, search for products and trade online.
As one of the leading B2B e-commerce service enterprises in China, Wangku has received significant industry attention, and has been awarded one of China’s "Top 100 Commercial Websites," "Top 100 Web 2.0 Websites" and "Top 100 B2B e-Commerce Websites" for its success in the field of e-commerce.
Wangku is headquartered in Beijing and has field sales and operating offices in 20 cities across China. As of April 30, 2008, Wangku had more than 220 full-time employees and over 2,000 employees from over 100 partners undertaking its business.
For more information about Wangku, please visit http://www.99114.com/ and http://www.jindian.com.cn/ .
About eFuture Information Technology Inc.
eFuture is a leading provider of front-end supply chain management software and services in China. eFuture provides integrated software and service solutions to manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, logistics companies and retailers in China’s front-end supply chain market, especially in the retail and Fast Moving Consumer Goods ("FMCG") industries. eFuture currently serves more than 1,000 clients, including Fortune 500 companies, over 770 retailers and over 200 distributors operating in China. eFuture is also one of IBM’s premier business partners in Asia Pacific and is a strategic partner with Oracle, Microsoft, JDA, Motorola and Samsung Network China. The company has over 650 employees and 20 branch offices across China.
For more information about eFuture, please visit http://www.e-future.com.cn/ .
Safe Harbor
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Among other things, 2008 financial outlook and quotations from management in this announcement, as well as strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. eFuture may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in periodic reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to first parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the company’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: eFuture’s anticipated growth strategies; eFuture’s future business development, results of operations and financial condition; expected changes in the company’s revenues and certain cost or expense items; eFuture’s ability to attract customers and leverage its brand; trends and competition in the software industry; the company’s ability to hire, train and retain qualified managerial and other employees; the company’s ability to develop new software and pilot new business models at desirable locations in a timely and cost-effective manner; the expected growth of the Chinese economy and software market in the retail and consumer goods industries; and Chinese governmental policies relating to private managers and operators of software and applicable tax rates.
Further information regarding these and other risks is included in eFuture’s annual report on Form 20-F and other documents filed with the SEC. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of May 14, 2008, and the company undertakes no duty to update such information or any other forward-looking information, except as required under applicable law.