|
Datalex, whose share price has collapsed in recent months, particularly after the terrorist attacks on the US, is to invest USD500,000 in cash and USD1.5 million in "other assets," which include intellectual property as well as tangible assts such as office equipment. It has also agreed to provide a working capital loan of up to USD800,000 to be utilised during Framework's first year in operation. The remaining investment in the company has come from private investors.
Based in Oregon, Framework Technology will be comprised of staff and executives formerly of Sight & Sound, a company acquired by Datalex in May of 2000. Sight & Sound is the company that provided Datalex with BookSmart, its on-line travel booking engine, and has since been merged and integrated into Datalex.
As part of the agreement, Datalex will retain intellectual property rights and continue to support the BookSmart product to existing and potential travel and transportation customers. According to Datalex, Framework Technology will utilise the underlying architecture platform to target new industries that can make use of its architecture.
"The creation of Framework Technology demonstrates the sensible way for us to rationalise the scale of our American operations and at the same time create an attractive investment opportunity," said Datalex's new chief executive officer, Neil Beck.
Beck told ElectricNews.Net that the company had been working on the deal for around four months. He said Framework was in the process of developing a business plan which will allow the company to promote the BookSmart platform to other industries. "It's an environment that's portable across a number of different types of e-businesses," he said.
These have not been easy times for Datalex, which counts Aer Lingus, American Airlines, British Airways and Delta Air Lines among its customers. Even before the crisis in the airline industry caused by the recent terrorist attacks, the company was struggling.
Amid falling sales and a free-falling share price, the company announced in July that it was cutting 20 percent of its Irish workforce and making significant reductions in its global operations. And just last week the resignation of the company's chairman, John F. Tierney, forced a management re-shuffle. Tierney was replaced by chief executive and company founder Neil Wilson, while Wilson's role went to chief operating officer Neil Beck.
Datalex's share price on the Nasdaq closed at USD0.85 on Tuesday. It has traded in a 52-week range of between USD12.5 and USD0.49.
Framework currently employs 27 and is headed by chief executive officer, Jeff Kennedy. Datalex employs around 375 worldwide and can be found at http://www.datalex.com.
|
