LAS VEGAS (BUSINESSWIRE) March 6, 2001 PurchasePro, a B2B e-commerce enabler for small- to medium-sized businesses, announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire BayBuilder, a provider of self-service strategic sourcing technology. PurchasePro will pay $15 million in stock and cash for the company. Completion of the acquisition is subject to customary conditions and is expected to close during the second quarter.
BayBuilder positions our company as a pre-eminent solutions provider in the strategic sourcing industry, said Charles Johnson, Jr., CEO of PurchasePro. Companies using expensive, service-based offerings from businesses like FreeMarkets are asking for alternatives. We believe BayBuilder is the most advanced reverse auction technology, enabling our company to continue its growth in the upper market while simultaneously driving its e-commerce solutions to our mass market.
PurchasePro is presently considered to service mostly small- and medium-sized businesses. However, with the acquisition of BayBuilder, PurchasePro will be positioned to service Fortune 1000 companies as well. BayBuilder has a number of Fortune 1000 clients including Lennox, Lexmark and Owens Corning.
Adding BayBuilder to PurchasePro's stable of functionality is a fundamentally sound decision, said Vernon Keenan, CEO of Keenan Vision, an industry analyst firm. What could have cost the company tens of millions of dollars to develop was acquired at a fraction of the cost, providing PurchasePro with viable software, a customer and supplier base and an immediate presence in the strategic sourcing market.
