Contact Information: Company Contacts: John Saunders Chief Executive Officer 303-895-3002 Jay Pfeiffer Pfeiffer High Investor Relations, Inc. 303-393-7044
IMI Global Announces Sale of Three Online Businesses to Vance Publishing
Deal Allows IMI Global to Strengthen Its Balance Sheet and Focus on Growing Its Core Food Verification Business; Strategic Advertising and Promotional Relationship With Vance Expected to Boost Sales of Food Verification Solutions
CASTLE ROCK, CO--(Marketwire - July 17, 2008) - Integrated Management Information, Inc.
(IMI Global) (OTCBB : INMG ), a leading provider of verification and Internet
solutions for the agricultural/livestock industry, today announced the sale
of three online businesses -- CattleNetwork, CattleStore and AgNetwork --
to Vance Publishing, a privately held provider of print and electronic
media with a strong presence in the agricultural industry. The transaction
consideration includes a cash payment at closing, advertising, and a
service support agreement. IMI Global's advertising relationship with
Vance will be used to support an aggressive advertising/promotion
partnership designed to build demand for IMI Global's growing range of food
verification solutions. IMI Global will maintain its position as a
Platinum Partner on both CattleNetwork and AgNetwork while promoting its
food verification programs through ad placements in Vance's industry
leading publications, including Drover's, Pork, Bovine Veterinarian and
Dairy Herd Management. In addition, IMI Global and Vance agreed to open
negotiations on other potential partnering opportunities.
"This is a strategic transaction that allows us to focus more resources on
growing our core food verification business while forging an important
advertising and promotion partnership with the agricultural industry's
premier provider of agricultural news and information," said John Saunders,
president and CEO of IMI Global. "Vance Publishing is a very strong player
in the Ag-media industry, with a host of print and online publications
catering to diverse segments of the Ag industry, from cattle producers and
meat packers to farmers and other food chain stakeholders -- all of which
cater to potential customers for our verification services. The
advertising program will support the launch of aggressive advertising and
publicity campaigns for our USVerified™ and Born and Raised in the
USA™ solutions with the goal of increasing marketshare.
"Demand for our verification and identification solutions is very strong
and we believe our focus in this high growth area gives us the best
opportunity to achieve profitable growth and build shareholder value on an
accelerated basis," Saunders added. "Having achieved our leadership status
in the verification industry largely without the benefit of advertising, we
are anxious to build our visibility and brand equity through these
targeted, high profile print and online publications. In the meantime, we
believe CattleNetwork, CattleStore and AgNetwork are ideal portfolio fits
for Vance Publishing, which has the marketing muscle and established
'big-company' advertising relationships to build ad revenue and product
sales of those businesses."
"Vance sees this as a strategic acquisition which supports our electronic
growth initiatives by delivering greater support to our customer
communications programs. We are excited about forging a strategic
advertising relationship with IMI Global and look forward to partnering
with them in supporting their verification programs," said William C.
Vance, Chairman.
Saunders added, "While the online businesses we are divesting have played
an important role in our growth, we believe Vance has the resources to take
them to the next level, while allowing us to focus on our core verification
programs, which have traditionally given us favorable margins. We are
selling these assets and reallocating that capital to fund other growth
initiatives, improve overall margins and strengthen our balance sheet. IMI
Global will continue to be an incubator for online businesses in the
agriculture and food chain sectors, leveraging our industry knowledge and
online expertise. At the same time, we will aggressively pursue
opportunities to expand our verification business, which, due to growing
consumer concerns about the worldwide food chain, is ideally positioned for
exponential growth."
About IMI Global
Founded in 1995, IMI Global is a leading provider of verification and
Internet solutions for the agriculture industry. Go to www.IMIGlobal.com
for additional information. IMI has worked with some of the largest
agricultural organizations in the United States, providing web-based
applications for verification and identification as well as a range of
consulting services tailored to meet each customer's needs. Additional IMI
web sites include www.USVerified.com, www.MyEquineNetwork.com, and
www.AgTraderIndex.com.
About Vance Publishing
Vance Publishing Corp. is headquartered in Lincolnshire, IL, with offices
in Lenexa, KS and St. Louis, MO. Since its founding in 1937, Vance
Publishing has been a recognized leader in business information and
communications. The company serves select business-to-business markets with
20 magazines, a host of newsletters, web offerings, events, data and custom
media products.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning
of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, based on
current expectations, estimates and projections that are subject to risk.
Forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and actual events
could differ materially from the Company's predictions. Important factors
that could cause actual events to vary from predictions include those
discussed in our SEC filings. Specifically, statements in this news
release about growth, profitability, new business development, potential,
leadership, the impact and efficacy of the Company's products and services
on the marketplace, and the success of advertising and publicity campaigns,
are forward-looking statements that are subject to a variety of factors,
including availability of capital, personnel and other resources;
competition, governmental regulation of the beef industry, the market for
beef and other factors. In addition, financial results for the three and
nine-month periods are not necessarily indicative of future results.
Readers should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update its
forward-looking statements to reflect new information or developments. For
a more extensive discussion of the Company's business, please refer to the
Company's SEC filings at www.sec.gov.