THE WOODLANDS January 16, 2001 Pantellos, an independent online marketplace for the utility and energy services industries, announced that it has joined forces with WorldCrest, a procurement solutions and indirect goods and services provider, in a strategic partnership. The WorldCrest / Pantellos partnership gives each company access to complementary new areas, enhancing the Pantellos marketplace while expanding WorldCrest's customer base.
For WorldCrest, the partnership offers the company access to Pantellos' utility industry knowledge and industry-focused solutions. Our companies have an aligned vision of how to create value, said Tom Walker, WorldCrest CEO. Our relationship with Pantellos allows us to significantly expand our presence in the utility market. The partnership marks WorldCrest's first alliance with a vertical marketplace.
The partnership is equally appealing for Pantellos, whose contract solutions will be augmented by WorldCrest's strategically sourced contracts and content management specifically for indirect goods and services such as business supplies, office furniture and equipment, bulk gases and chemicals and MRO.
This partnership benefits Pantellos members by accelerating the availability of content in the Pantellos Marketplace through WorldCrest's extensive supplier base, said Graham Collins, president and CEO of Pantellos. WorldCrest brings more than 50 established suppliers to the trading community. Their comprehensive managed catalogs will enhance speed-to-market with new and existing suppliers over an extended array of materials and services.
We chose to partner with WorldCrest due to the strong synergies between our business models and their ability to help us deliver value to our members, said Mike Zirkle, vice president of commercial services at Pantellos. We are currently incorporating WorldCrest content into the Pantellos Marketplace.
The WorldCrest content will be incorporated into the Pantellos Marketplace and available to members by March, 2001.
