Seven-Week Effort Culminates in Purchase Agreement Friday Night
MOUNDS VIEW, Minn., Feb. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Liberty Enterprises, Inc. late
Friday evening acquired Denver-based Cavion Technologies, Inc., the leading
supplier of Internet services for America's credit unions.
The agreement followed a Denver U.S. Bankruptcy Court's approval earlier
in the day.
The acquisition was the culmination of a seven-week effort by Liberty to
prevent Cavion from being forced to turn off Internet services to more than
200 credit unions and related customers following Cavion's Chapter 11 filing
on Dec. 21, 2000.
"Liberty has succeeded in our primary goal of keeping screens lighted for
credit unions and their members while we put in cash and sought commitments
from customers, suppliers and creditors," said Robert D. Anderson, Liberty
president and chief executive officer.
"In the end, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court supported our plan because we were
organized and because we had the support of so many credit unions, business
partners and key creditors," Anderson said.
"We have been given a singular opportunity to now develop this crucial
Internet technology for credit unions. Liberty will deepen and create a wide
range of services that will allow member-owned financial cooperatives to
compete fully with the largest international banks, brokerages, insurers and
other financial combines."
The new Liberty Cavion unit will remain in Englewood, Colorado, and will
be led by Liberty Executive Vice President for Internet Applications Michael
J. Provenzano.
Provenzano and Liberty Chief Financial Officer Paul Annett were in Denver
Friday at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court emergency hearing to review Liberty's
letter of intent to purchase.
Competing proposals had been separately offered earlier in the week by
EDS, the large, Plano, Texas electronics corporation, and by Sunstar
Communications, LLP, the Tampa, Florida-based Internet service provider.
Later, a joint oral plan was presented to the court by EDS and Sunstar. The
court ruled Friday in favor of the Liberty offer.
The Liberty proposal was supported by the primary group of secured
creditors and by key Cavion suppliers, including Convergent Communications,
Inc., the Denver-based provider of telecommunications services and computer
equipment for Cavion.
Liberty continued to receive three-year commitments from current Cavion
customers as late as Friday, and expects that many more will be received
during the coming week now that Liberty ownership has been established.
"We view this as an acknowledgment of Liberty's marketplace credibility,
as well as a sign of confidence in Cavion's products and services," Anderson
said.
Liberty will take the exceptional step of providing up to six months of
service for those credit unions who have chosen to leave Cavion during its
Chapter 11 status.
"Although we welcome all Cavion credit union customers to continue with
us, for those who decided to leave, we will provide the very best possible
support and transition during the coming months at Liberty market rates,"
Anderson said.
Liberty will also move quickly to determine the future direction of Member
Emporium, an Internet portal for credit union members that was part of
Liberty's Cavion acquisition.
"We'll need to develop a new business plan for Member Emporium, a business
that is very much like the old Cavion -- leading edge technology with an
unsustainable business model," Anderson said.
Provenzano and Annett have met with all Cavion employees and have begun
their transition to Liberty. Liberty expects to re-hire some former Cavion
employees who were laid off by Cavion recently.
The sale of Cavion makes the company part of a 15-year-old private,
family- and employee-owned company with 920 employees. Liberty serves more
than 5,000 credit unions in all 50 states, Guam and Puerto Rico.
About Liberty
Liberty's core product is the check, still consumers' leading financial
transaction vehicle. The company is the credit union movement's leading
provider of payment systems (checks, card services, financial supplies),
marketing services (database marketing, creative services, outsource
marketing, market research) and technology solutions (data processing,
Web-site development and hosting, Internet banking). Liberty is headquartered
in Mounds View, MN, a suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul. The company has also
established marketing centers in Los Angeles, St. Louis, Minneapolis and
Hartford, CT.
About Cavion
Cavion Technologies offers products and services for secure
business-to-business communications and secure Internet financial products and
services designed specifically for the needs of credit unions. The company's
Internet software products include secure Internet access, online
transactional banking, cellular access, online bill payment, and online loan
decision products, along with enabling software for kiosks.
Cavion created a secure, private communications network called CUiNET
(Credit Union interactive Network) exclusively for the credit union industry.
CUiNET provides a secure, high-speed communications platform for the delivery
of services, transactions and information to and from credit unions and
related organizations, such as trade organizations, corporate credit unions
and credit union vendors. The company's headquarters are located at
6466 South Kenton Street, Englewood, CO 80111. Its telephone number is
720-875-1900.
For more information, contact Liberty Public Relations Manager Rick Foy,
at 800-607-2435, ext. 2436.
SOURCE Liberty Enterprises, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.libertycheck.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/110839.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 110839
CONTACT:
Rick Foy, Public Relations, ext. 2436, or
Robert D. Anderson, President & CEO, ext. 2355, or Michael J.
Provenzano, EVP for Internet Applications, ext. 2308, all of
Liberty, 800-607-2435
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