The B2B Analyst- U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray's Weekly B2B Newsletter, Volume 1, Number 25-
FRIDAY, JULY 14, 2000 1:54 PM
- BusinessWire
MINNEAPOLIS, Jul 14, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The B2B Analyst Is Published Each Friday And Delivered Free To Subscribers
Via e-Mail.
Jon M. Ekoniak, 650-233-2278, jekoniak@pjc.com
Timothy M. Klein, 612-303-5544, tklein@pjc.com
To subscribe, go to www.gotoanalysts.com/b2bsubscribe/
Looking for more insight on the B2B e-commerce market?
Each Friday morning Jon and Tim conduct a live interview with RadioWallStreet. To listen live, go to radiowallstreet.com at 9:00
a.m. PST. Interview archives are also maintained on the RadioWallStreet Web site.
July 14, 2000
In This Week's B2B Analyst:
I. INDEX - U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray B2BEC Index
II. Market Insight - A B2B Revival: Is B2B Back?
III. B2K - Turning Vision Into Reality
IV. Weekly News
V. Filings & Pricings
VI. Appendix - Bios
I. INDEX - U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray B2BEC Index
Close: 142.56 Past week: +33.66 (+30.9%) Past month: +31.4 (+28.2%) Since inception (7/1/99): +42.56 (+42.6%)
Driven by Ariba's tremendous revenue growth, the Index soared more than 30% this past week, its most significant jump in
months. Commerce One's 55% gain led the pack, with Ariba, Ventro (a), VerticalNet (a), ImageX, and PurchasePro all up more
than 30%.
II. MARKET INSIGHT - A B2B Revival: Is B2B Back?
Inspired by Ariba's strong June quarter results, the recently maligned world of B2B has regained some bounce in its step as the
results begin to speak for themselves. With Commerce One (a,c), Ariba, FreeMarkets (a), and PurchasePro gaining an average of
more than 40% in the past few days, this revival is looking more like the days of old--before the emergence of CoBAMs (Consortia
of Brick-And-Mortars) and the recent correction in the market when B2B bombed 60%-80%.
Many will surely ask whether B2B is back to stay? We reiterate our belief in the strong value being created by B2B models and
maintain that patient investors will be rewarded in the form of impressive fundamental results and resulting stock price
appreciation. Our thesis has always been that the fundamental and revolutionary benefits of B2B are real, in which supply chain
inefficiencies are particularly ripe for the Internet to streamline, automate, and integrate processes to reduce process costs and
open up markets. While we believe that the market's conviction in this thesis was never really in question, it was surely tested as
the leading pure-plays suffered heart-wrenching stock price declines. What did change was the market's perception of the
competitive environment, not only the impact of the CoBAMs on pure-plays but how the former pure-play high fliers differed.
With the passing of time has come improved clarity on the competitive landscape. Despite all the fanfare, most of the CoBAMs
remain little more than a concept. In the meantime, we are starting to see consortia members hedge their bets by joining the
CoBAMs while maintaining relationships with the pure-plays. Companies such as BP Amoco, a founding member of the
Petrochemical Exchange, along with 13 other leading energy and petrochemical companies, recently announced a long-term deal
with FreeMarkets to set pricing for catalog-based buying of indirect goods. Honeywell and Delphi Automotive are similarly in
consortia-backed exchanges while continuing their long term relationships with FreeMarkets. We believe this will be a dominant
trend going forward as different marketplaces and services generate distinct value propositions. Another result of the CoBAMs
has been the increasing reliance on technology providers, as players such as Commerce One have made hay being the
technology partner to multiple consortia.
We believe time has also brought clarity in the market positions of some leading providers. As business models become more
seasoned and companies have had time to absorb the business from large customers, variations in market focus, approach, and
delivered value propositions are becoming evident. Ariba is now the leader in MRO-based e-procurement applications.
Complementing its core strength in indirect procurement applications, Ariba has expanded into direct procurement with Trading
Dynamics and SupplierMarket.com, and exchange platforms with Tradex. Commerce One is focusing more on building a broad
market platform to build marketplaces and connect buyers and sellers, in addition to providing procurement applications. Through
expansion of its Global Trading Web, Commerce One wants to own the highways connecting buyers, suppliers, and marketplaces.
While both Commerce One and Ariba initially began serving the indirect procurement market, FreeMarkets was the first pure-play
to target direct goods. Its approach is highly service-based, combining proprietary auction technology with consulting services
before, during, and after the auction event. The key distinction for FreeMarkets is that it focuses on the up-front buying decision
or sourcing, not on the ongoing order transactions. This expertise has allowed the Company to also expand its services into
indirect goods and services, which are just as complex at the sourcing level.
Competition should only intensify across all areas of B2B as new vendors test new approaches and current leaders attempt to
extend their leadership. However, as the market continues to evolve and grow, companies will also continue to differentiate
themselves and thereby provide investors with a much better sense of who the winners will be and how they will get there. We
believe that these differences will become more evident over the next two to three quarters as this rising tide will lift many ships in
many different ways.
III. B2K - Turning Vision Into Reality
The big question perplexing investors, entrepreneurs, and Fortune 1000 companies is "How long is it going to take to make B2B
e-commerce a reality?" The promises of B2B e-commerce are big, the opportunities are abundant, and the vision is impressive.
However, realizing these changes will take a lot of hard work and time. It is not as easy as flipping a switch. It will take time. The
question is how much time?
Here is a quick answer--it is not going to happen overnight. To simplify things, below we have outlined four main stages of B2B
e-commerce adoption and deployment. They do not necessarily need to be deployed in this order, but they do feed off each
other, integrating to make e-commerce seamless and frictionless.
Integrated Internal Workflow - you need to walk before you can run. With the proliferation of proprietary best-of-breed applications,
this is an issue that has been challenging companies for the last decade. Systems need to communicate with each other and
information needs to be shared inside the organization. Integrators have made hundreds of millions of dollars building custom
APIs to do this. Enterprise application integration (EAI) companies such as Vitria, Neon, and STC are building tools and packaged
applications to accomplish this major issue. Additionally, companies such as Ariba, Commerce One, and Clarus (a,c) addressed as
their first step the internal procurement workflow. Their applications address such issues as developing a purchase requisition,
routing the requisition for approval, developing a purchase order, and reconciling payments. This is a critical step, as an
organization must be organized internally before effectively collaborating externally. Estimated time to completion: two to six years.
Aggregation: Creating A Network Of Buyers And Sellers - the Internet has the opportunity to essentially localize global commerce
though its ability to reach virtually everyone worldwide. The challenge is in getting companies online and in a central site so that
they can be easily accessible. We believe that start-up marketplaces did a great job in raising awareness, and many CoBAMs are
now making significant progress in bringing large companies online within fairly consolidated industries. Aggregating enough
players is critical in creating a meaningful marketplace. It is one of the first steps and perhaps the one that will be completed the
quickest. Estimated time to completion: now to three years.
Integrated Buying/Selling Solution - once companies are connected online, the daunting challenge of providing a buying and
selling solution begins. This is the first step in extending beyond the four walls of an organization and it must be a successful one
if we are to hope for bigger things. Various transaction options (auction, complex RFQ, etc.) must be available and designed to fit
the industry's specific needs, providing trading partners with the benefits of added transparency and reach, yet also the comfort
and security of knowing that their relationships, brand value, and way of doing business are being protected. Estimated time to
completion: two to eight years.
Supply-Chain Collaboration - while the buying and selling process is critical, its enablement still only scratches the surface of B2B
e-commerce's potential. In order to retool our economy and deliver upon the big promises of e-commerce, it will be necessary to
facilitate communication and collaboration throughout the entire demand and supply chains. Only then will our economy see the
benefits of demand-driven production, near-zero inventory, and meaningful information sharing and cooperation between trading
partners. Estimated time to completion: four to 12 years.
The Phases Of B2B e-Commerce Development And Deployment
Process Benefits Estimated
Buildout
Time
Aggregation Broader reach, Now-3 years
greater selection
Internal Workflow Reduced processing 2-6 years
costs, fewer
errors, robust data
intelligence
Integrated One-click commerce, 2-8 years
Buying/Selling efficient
price discovery,
lower SG&A
Supply Chain Lower inventory, 4-12 years
Collaboration shortened cycle
times, improved
cooperation
While the era of B2B e-commerce is quickly engulfing us, it will be a long and arduous road involving multiple steps that need to
be achieved before the "vision" is realized. Strap yourselves in--we foresee this process continuing into the next decade.
IV. WEEKLY NEWS
-- FreeMarkets (FMKT) signed BP Amoco to a long-term agreement.
BP Amoco is a founding member of the Petrochemical Exchange
and plans to initially use FreeMarkets to set catalog pricing
for indirect goods to be purchased on the Exchange.
-- Retek Inc. (RETK-a,c) announced that it has been selected by
Tesco, Britain's largest retailer, as a strategic partner to
support its expanding nonfood business. Tesco will use Retek's
Trade Management System to support its worldwide sourcing
activities.
-- Agile Software (AGIL), a provider of collaborative
manufacturing solutions, signed Compaq (a) to a
multimillion-dollar contract. Compaq will use Agile's
collaboration product as well as Agile Buyer, a sourcing
solution for direct materials.
-- Ariba (ARBA) and Project Software & Development (PSDI-a)
announced an alliance to enable its customers to access each
other's buyers, suppliers, and services. PSDI provides
solutions to streamline the supply chain for MRO goods.
-- Due to CoBAM competition, pure-play AviationX is changing its
course within the commercial aviation industry and will now
focus its efforts on providing workflow applications and
technology to industry participants and CoBAMs.
V. FILINGS & PRICINGS
In a further sign of potential market warming, two B2B IPOs were priced this week, with each stock gaining more than 35%.
Pricings IPO
-- divineInterventures (DVIN) issued 14,285,000 shares at $9 per
share. The Company incubates a network of companies
specifically focused on the B2B e-commerce market. Currently,
DVIN shares are trading at $19 9/16.
-- I-many (IMNY) issued 7,500,000 shares at $9 per share. The
Company operates marketplace-focused contract purchasing
within the health care industry. Currently, IMNY shares are
trading at $12 1/2.
Some or all of the following hedges may pertain: (a)U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc. makes a market in the company's securities.
(b)A U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc. officer, director, or other employee is a director and/or officer of the company. (c)Within the
past three years, U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc. was managing underwriter of an offering of, or dealer manager of a tender offer
for, the company's securities or securities of an affiliate. Additional information is available upon request.
Not FDIC Insured No Bank Guarantee May Lose Value
This material is based on data obtained from sources we deem to be reliable; it is not guaranteed as to accuracy and does not
purport to be complete. This information is not intended to be used as the primary basis of investment decisions. Because of
individual client requirements, it should not be construed as advice designed to meet the particular investment needs of any
investor. It is not a representation by us or an offer or the solicitation of an offer to sell or buy any security. Further, a security
described in this publication may not be eligible for solicitation in the states in which the client resides. U.S. Bancorp and its
affiliated companies, and their respective officers or employees, or members of their families, may own the securities mentioned
and may purchase or sell those securities in the open market or otherwise. In the United Kingdom, this report may only be
distributed or passed on to persons of the kind described in Article 11(3) of the Financial Services Act 1986 (Investment
Advertisements) (Exemptions) Order 1996 (as amended by the Financial Services Act 1986 (Investment Advertisements)
(exemptions) Order 1997). Securities products and services offered through U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc., member of SIPC and
NYSE, Inc., a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp.
(c)2000 U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc., 800 Nicollet Mall, Suite 800, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402-7020
www.piperjaffray.com
Nondeposit investment products are not insured by the FDIC, are not deposits or other obligations of or guaranteed by U.S. Bank
National Association or its affiliates, and involve investment risks, including possible loss of the principal amount invested.
Securities products and services are offered through U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc., member SIPC and NYSE, Inc., a subsidiary
of U.S. Bancorp.
CONTACT: U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray
Media Relations Consultant
Erin Freeman
650-233-2233
or
Mike MacMillan
MacMillan Communications
212-473-4442
URL: www.businesswire.com
Today's News On The Net - Business Wire's full file on the Internet
with Hyperlinks to your home page.
Copyright (C) 2000 Business Wire. All rights reserved.
Distributed via COMTEX.
KEYWORD: MINNESOTA CALIFORNIA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BANKING
FRIDAY, JULY 14, 2000 1:54 PM
- BusinessWire
MINNEAPOLIS, Jul 14, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The B2B Analyst Is Published Each Friday And Delivered Free To Subscribers
Via e-Mail.
Jon M. Ekoniak, 650-233-2278, jekoniak@pjc.com
Timothy M. Klein, 612-303-5544, tklein@pjc.com
To subscribe, go to www.gotoanalysts.com/b2bsubscribe/
Looking for more insight on the B2B e-commerce market?
Each Friday morning Jon and Tim conduct a live interview with RadioWallStreet. To listen live, go to radiowallstreet.com at 9:00
a.m. PST. Interview archives are also maintained on the RadioWallStreet Web site.
July 14, 2000
In This Week's B2B Analyst:
I. INDEX - U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray B2BEC Index
II. Market Insight - A B2B Revival: Is B2B Back?
III. B2K - Turning Vision Into Reality
IV. Weekly News
V. Filings & Pricings
VI. Appendix - Bios
I. INDEX - U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray B2BEC Index
Close: 142.56 Past week: +33.66 (+30.9%) Past month: +31.4 (+28.2%) Since inception (7/1/99): +42.56 (+42.6%)
Driven by Ariba's tremendous revenue growth, the Index soared more than 30% this past week, its most significant jump in
months. Commerce One's 55% gain led the pack, with Ariba, Ventro (a), VerticalNet (a), ImageX, and PurchasePro all up more
than 30%.
II. MARKET INSIGHT - A B2B Revival: Is B2B Back?
Inspired by Ariba's strong June quarter results, the recently maligned world of B2B has regained some bounce in its step as the
results begin to speak for themselves. With Commerce One (a,c), Ariba, FreeMarkets (a), and PurchasePro gaining an average of
more than 40% in the past few days, this revival is looking more like the days of old--before the emergence of CoBAMs (Consortia
of Brick-And-Mortars) and the recent correction in the market when B2B bombed 60%-80%.
Many will surely ask whether B2B is back to stay? We reiterate our belief in the strong value being created by B2B models and
maintain that patient investors will be rewarded in the form of impressive fundamental results and resulting stock price
appreciation. Our thesis has always been that the fundamental and revolutionary benefits of B2B are real, in which supply chain
inefficiencies are particularly ripe for the Internet to streamline, automate, and integrate processes to reduce process costs and
open up markets. While we believe that the market's conviction in this thesis was never really in question, it was surely tested as
the leading pure-plays suffered heart-wrenching stock price declines. What did change was the market's perception of the
competitive environment, not only the impact of the CoBAMs on pure-plays but how the former pure-play high fliers differed.
With the passing of time has come improved clarity on the competitive landscape. Despite all the fanfare, most of the CoBAMs
remain little more than a concept. In the meantime, we are starting to see consortia members hedge their bets by joining the
CoBAMs while maintaining relationships with the pure-plays. Companies such as BP Amoco, a founding member of the
Petrochemical Exchange, along with 13 other leading energy and petrochemical companies, recently announced a long-term deal
with FreeMarkets to set pricing for catalog-based buying of indirect goods. Honeywell and Delphi Automotive are similarly in
consortia-backed exchanges while continuing their long term relationships with FreeMarkets. We believe this will be a dominant
trend going forward as different marketplaces and services generate distinct value propositions. Another result of the CoBAMs
has been the increasing reliance on technology providers, as players such as Commerce One have made hay being the
technology partner to multiple consortia.
We believe time has also brought clarity in the market positions of some leading providers. As business models become more
seasoned and companies have had time to absorb the business from large customers, variations in market focus, approach, and
delivered value propositions are becoming evident. Ariba is now the leader in MRO-based e-procurement applications.
Complementing its core strength in indirect procurement applications, Ariba has expanded into direct procurement with Trading
Dynamics and SupplierMarket.com, and exchange platforms with Tradex. Commerce One is focusing more on building a broad
market platform to build marketplaces and connect buyers and sellers, in addition to providing procurement applications. Through
expansion of its Global Trading Web, Commerce One wants to own the highways connecting buyers, suppliers, and marketplaces.
While both Commerce One and Ariba initially began serving the indirect procurement market, FreeMarkets was the first pure-play
to target direct goods. Its approach is highly service-based, combining proprietary auction technology with consulting services
before, during, and after the auction event. The key distinction for FreeMarkets is that it focuses on the up-front buying decision
or sourcing, not on the ongoing order transactions. This expertise has allowed the Company to also expand its services into
indirect goods and services, which are just as complex at the sourcing level.
Competition should only intensify across all areas of B2B as new vendors test new approaches and current leaders attempt to
extend their leadership. However, as the market continues to evolve and grow, companies will also continue to differentiate
themselves and thereby provide investors with a much better sense of who the winners will be and how they will get there. We
believe that these differences will become more evident over the next two to three quarters as this rising tide will lift many ships in
many different ways.
III. B2K - Turning Vision Into Reality
The big question perplexing investors, entrepreneurs, and Fortune 1000 companies is "How long is it going to take to make B2B
e-commerce a reality?" The promises of B2B e-commerce are big, the opportunities are abundant, and the vision is impressive.
However, realizing these changes will take a lot of hard work and time. It is not as easy as flipping a switch. It will take time. The
question is how much time?
Here is a quick answer--it is not going to happen overnight. To simplify things, below we have outlined four main stages of B2B
e-commerce adoption and deployment. They do not necessarily need to be deployed in this order, but they do feed off each
other, integrating to make e-commerce seamless and frictionless.
Integrated Internal Workflow - you need to walk before you can run. With the proliferation of proprietary best-of-breed applications,
this is an issue that has been challenging companies for the last decade. Systems need to communicate with each other and
information needs to be shared inside the organization. Integrators have made hundreds of millions of dollars building custom
APIs to do this. Enterprise application integration (EAI) companies such as Vitria, Neon, and STC are building tools and packaged
applications to accomplish this major issue. Additionally, companies such as Ariba, Commerce One, and Clarus (a,c) addressed as
their first step the internal procurement workflow. Their applications address such issues as developing a purchase requisition,
routing the requisition for approval, developing a purchase order, and reconciling payments. This is a critical step, as an
organization must be organized internally before effectively collaborating externally. Estimated time to completion: two to six years.
Aggregation: Creating A Network Of Buyers And Sellers - the Internet has the opportunity to essentially localize global commerce
though its ability to reach virtually everyone worldwide. The challenge is in getting companies online and in a central site so that
they can be easily accessible. We believe that start-up marketplaces did a great job in raising awareness, and many CoBAMs are
now making significant progress in bringing large companies online within fairly consolidated industries. Aggregating enough
players is critical in creating a meaningful marketplace. It is one of the first steps and perhaps the one that will be completed the
quickest. Estimated time to completion: now to three years.
Integrated Buying/Selling Solution - once companies are connected online, the daunting challenge of providing a buying and
selling solution begins. This is the first step in extending beyond the four walls of an organization and it must be a successful one
if we are to hope for bigger things. Various transaction options (auction, complex RFQ, etc.) must be available and designed to fit
the industry's specific needs, providing trading partners with the benefits of added transparency and reach, yet also the comfort
and security of knowing that their relationships, brand value, and way of doing business are being protected. Estimated time to
completion: two to eight years.
Supply-Chain Collaboration - while the buying and selling process is critical, its enablement still only scratches the surface of B2B
e-commerce's potential. In order to retool our economy and deliver upon the big promises of e-commerce, it will be necessary to
facilitate communication and collaboration throughout the entire demand and supply chains. Only then will our economy see the
benefits of demand-driven production, near-zero inventory, and meaningful information sharing and cooperation between trading
partners. Estimated time to completion: four to 12 years.
The Phases Of B2B e-Commerce Development And Deployment
Process Benefits Estimated
Buildout
Time
Aggregation Broader reach, Now-3 years
greater selection
Internal Workflow Reduced processing 2-6 years
costs, fewer
errors, robust data
intelligence
Integrated One-click commerce, 2-8 years
Buying/Selling efficient
price discovery,
lower SG&A
Supply Chain Lower inventory, 4-12 years
Collaboration shortened cycle
times, improved
cooperation
While the era of B2B e-commerce is quickly engulfing us, it will be a long and arduous road involving multiple steps that need to
be achieved before the "vision" is realized. Strap yourselves in--we foresee this process continuing into the next decade.
IV. WEEKLY NEWS
-- FreeMarkets (FMKT) signed BP Amoco to a long-term agreement.
BP Amoco is a founding member of the Petrochemical Exchange
and plans to initially use FreeMarkets to set catalog pricing
for indirect goods to be purchased on the Exchange.
-- Retek Inc. (RETK-a,c) announced that it has been selected by
Tesco, Britain's largest retailer, as a strategic partner to
support its expanding nonfood business. Tesco will use Retek's
Trade Management System to support its worldwide sourcing
activities.
-- Agile Software (AGIL), a provider of collaborative
manufacturing solutions, signed Compaq (a) to a
multimillion-dollar contract. Compaq will use Agile's
collaboration product as well as Agile Buyer, a sourcing
solution for direct materials.
-- Ariba (ARBA) and Project Software & Development (PSDI-a)
announced an alliance to enable its customers to access each
other's buyers, suppliers, and services. PSDI provides
solutions to streamline the supply chain for MRO goods.
-- Due to CoBAM competition, pure-play AviationX is changing its
course within the commercial aviation industry and will now
focus its efforts on providing workflow applications and
technology to industry participants and CoBAMs.
V. FILINGS & PRICINGS
In a further sign of potential market warming, two B2B IPOs were priced this week, with each stock gaining more than 35%.
Pricings IPO
-- divineInterventures (DVIN) issued 14,285,000 shares at $9 per
share. The Company incubates a network of companies
specifically focused on the B2B e-commerce market. Currently,
DVIN shares are trading at $19 9/16.
-- I-many (IMNY) issued 7,500,000 shares at $9 per share. The
Company operates marketplace-focused contract purchasing
within the health care industry. Currently, IMNY shares are
trading at $12 1/2.
Some or all of the following hedges may pertain: (a)U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc. makes a market in the company's securities.
(b)A U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc. officer, director, or other employee is a director and/or officer of the company. (c)Within the
past three years, U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc. was managing underwriter of an offering of, or dealer manager of a tender offer
for, the company's securities or securities of an affiliate. Additional information is available upon request.
Not FDIC Insured No Bank Guarantee May Lose Value
This material is based on data obtained from sources we deem to be reliable; it is not guaranteed as to accuracy and does not
purport to be complete. This information is not intended to be used as the primary basis of investment decisions. Because of
individual client requirements, it should not be construed as advice designed to meet the particular investment needs of any
investor. It is not a representation by us or an offer or the solicitation of an offer to sell or buy any security. Further, a security
described in this publication may not be eligible for solicitation in the states in which the client resides. U.S. Bancorp and its
affiliated companies, and their respective officers or employees, or members of their families, may own the securities mentioned
and may purchase or sell those securities in the open market or otherwise. In the United Kingdom, this report may only be
distributed or passed on to persons of the kind described in Article 11(3) of the Financial Services Act 1986 (Investment
Advertisements) (Exemptions) Order 1996 (as amended by the Financial Services Act 1986 (Investment Advertisements)
(exemptions) Order 1997). Securities products and services offered through U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc., member of SIPC and
NYSE, Inc., a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp.
(c)2000 U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc., 800 Nicollet Mall, Suite 800, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402-7020
www.piperjaffray.com
Nondeposit investment products are not insured by the FDIC, are not deposits or other obligations of or guaranteed by U.S. Bank
National Association or its affiliates, and involve investment risks, including possible loss of the principal amount invested.
Securities products and services are offered through U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc., member SIPC and NYSE, Inc., a subsidiary
of U.S. Bancorp.
CONTACT: U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray
Media Relations Consultant
Erin Freeman
650-233-2233
or
Mike MacMillan
MacMillan Communications
212-473-4442
URL: www.businesswire.com
Today's News On The Net - Business Wire's full file on the Internet
with Hyperlinks to your home page.
Copyright (C) 2000 Business Wire. All rights reserved.
Distributed via COMTEX.
KEYWORD: MINNESOTA CALIFORNIA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BANKING
