(September 27 – 12:10 ET) – With much fanfare and fuss CIBC, Scotiabank and the Mouvement des caisses Desjardins announced a new B2B marketplace in partnership with BCE Emergis and Bell Canada this morning, however in the post-event question period the partners refused to reveal much detail about their deal.
The banks and their partners would not say how much each is contributing to get this new venture going, and they indicated that BCE Emergis’ investment takes the form of technology, rather than cash.
They were also tight-lipped about the performance warrants that are part of the deal. BCE Emergis will issue warrants, apparently based on the performance of the new venture, although the measures of performance were not defined. They would also not reveal the possible size of the stakes each of the financial institutions may end up with in BCE Emergis as a result of the warrant issue, pleading securities commission prohibitions for their silence. A search of SEDAR reveals no preliminary prospectus filings to date from BCE Emergis.
Procuron CEO, Steve McKeown, did indicate that it would like to grab 10% of the exploding B2B marketplace in its first year. He also indicated that suppliers would face no additional costs to join this new exchange, providing they are using Ariba software already. He also suggested that buyers could expect savings of between 1% and 10% or more from the new service.
Jill Denham, managing director of CIBC.com, said that her bank is committed to expanding these sorts of services and intends to become a leading E-commerce player.
-IE Staff