Acquisition of Product Information Management and Inventory

Replenishment Solutions Company Strengthens and Expands

Comergent's Demand Chain Management Offering

    REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Comergent Technologies(R),
 Inc., the leading provider of demand chain management applications, today
 announced its acquisition of Profile Systems, Inc., developer of product
 information (PIM) and inventory management solutions for business-to-business
 e-business. Under the terms of the agreement, Comergent Technologies has
 acquired all the outstanding Profile Systems shares and technology. Profile
 Systems employees have been retained in the West Springfield, Massachusetts
 office.
     The acquisition joins two complementary business-to-business demand chain
 management software solutions that help manufacturers, resellers, and
 distributors optimize their product data and order management lifecycles from
 end to end-resulting in reduced order errors, lower selling costs, faster
 time-to-market, and increased sales revenue. By implementing Profile Systems'
 product information management solution, customers typically see cost savings
 equal to 1% of sales. Additionally, the Profile Systems' automated
 replenishment solution aids customers with increased inventory turns, improved
 service levels, and greater profitability -- sales increases average 6-10% per
 replenished location.
     A December 2003 report by Forrester Research analyst, Erica Rugullies,
 validates the need for product information management software. "Internal
 product information management processes scream for improvement. Companies
 that sell products (e.g., manufacturers, distributors, retailers) need to
 streamline the process of creating, managing and using product-related
 information (e.g., structured data, unstructured content), which must be
 accessed by people in various roles throughout the company."
 
     Profile Systems' strengths include:
     -- Substantial revenue growth over the past two fiscal years; 74% in 2002
        and 42% in 2003
     -- Extensive expertise in the automotive, consumer packaged goods,
        industrial, and healthcare industry verticals
     -- Over 1,000 enterprise subscription customers
     -- Ability to expand Comergent's product solution to include product
        information management, data synchronization, and automated inventory
        replenishment
 
     "As the economy recovers, businesses are once again turning to technology
 to support the increasing traffic in their sales and distribution channels,"
 said Jean Kovacs, president and CEO, Comergent. "This strategic acquisition
 will deliver significant benefits in costs savings and revenue generation to
 our customers."
     Founded in 1994, Profile Systems is an established leader in automated
 inventory replenishment and product information management software solutions.
 Profile Systems customers include Fortune 1000 manufacturers, distributors,
 and retailers such as Dana Corporation, CVS/pharmacy, Johnson Controls,
 Stanley Tools, Miller Electric/ITW, and Hubbell Incorporated.
     "We are excited to join the Comergent team," said Ed Mallen, former
 president and CEO, Profile Systems, who joins Comergent as a senior vice
 president and a board member. "In our discussions with Comergent, we realized
 that our industry-leading applications complement each other and that our
 technology, corporate cultures and dedication to customer success were a
 match. It was a natural step to move from our existing partnership to how our
 companies could further align and bring a more comprehensive solution to
 market together."
     "Dana has been a Profile Systems customer since 2000," said Jerry McCabe,
 vice president of marketing, Dana Corporation's Under Hood Group. "The union
 of Profile Systems with Comergent is a logical step in joining two successful
 and complementary technologies. We are pleased to become part of the Comergent
 customer family."
     "We're delighted to see the momentum and synergy between Comergent and
 Profile Systems," said Bob Jack, director of e-business, Gates Corporation.
 "As a current Comergent customer, we look forward to the combined solution
 benefits of Comergent and Profile Systems.
     Comergent's acquisition of Profile Systems closed on January 5, 2004 and
 the former executive management team of Profile Systems has been retained.
     Comergent's proven success with industry-leading manufacturers,
 distributors and retailers-enabling these companies to reduce order errors,
 minimize sales and ordering costs and make it easier for their customers to do
 business-have made Comergent the leader in demand chain management software
 solutions.
 
     About Comergent
     Comergent is a leading provider of demand chain management software
 solutions that enable enterprises to make it easier for their customers and
 partners to do business and reduce the cost of selling processes, all through
 a single system. The Comergent E-Business System(TM) facilitates all selling
 processes for the enterprise within three main product areas:  Product
 Information Management, Pricing, Configuration and Quoting, and Distributed
 Order Management. Comergent is a privately held company. Customers include
 such industry leaders as Adobe, Cisco Systems, CVS/pharmacy, Dana, DuPont,
 Hubbell, J.C. Penney, La-Z-Boy, Maytag, Nissan North America, Seagate,
 Staples, Symbol and Toro. Comergent has been named a Computerworld Top 100
 Emerging Company for 2002, a Cool Company for 2001 by Fortune magazine, and
 the fourth fastest growing private company for 2003 by The Silicon Valley/San
 Jose Business Journal. For more information, visit www.comergent.com or send
 email to info@comergent.com.
 
     NOTE:  Comergent and the Comergent logo are registered trademarks of
 Comergent Technologies, Inc. Comergent E-Business System is a trademark of
 Comergent Technologies, Inc. All other products or company names mentioned are
 used for identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their
 respective owners.
 
 

SOURCE  Comergent Technologies, Inc.

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