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COMPANY UPDATE - RECENT NEWS
from STOCKFIRST and TheInvestorOnline www.stockfirst.com www.theinvestoronline.com ____________________________________ Avery Communications Inc. Symbol: OTCBB - ATEX Recommended: 05/14/01 - $.58 Target: $2.50 52 Wk Range: $.38 - $2.375 ____________________________________ Avery Communications Inc. Enters Into Management Support and Asset Purchase Agreements With OAN Services Inc. Avery Communications Inc. (OTCBB:ATEX), a provider of customer care and billing services, announced that, through its wholly owned subsidiary, ACI Telecommunications Inc. (``ACI''), it has entered into a management support and post-petition financing agreement with OAN Services Inc. (``OAN'') and has reached a definitive agreement to acquire certain assets from OAN for $19.7 million. Located in Northridge, Calif., OAN is a competitor of HBS Billing Services Inc., Avery's local exchange carrier billing clearinghouse operation in San Antonio. OAN Services filed a petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the federal Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court on May 25, 2001. Both the management support and the asset purchase agreements are subject to Bankruptcy Court approval. The management support agreement with OAN provides for ACI management to assist OAN in operating its business during the first 90 days of the bankruptcy period. Under this agreement, OAN's customers are assured that there will be no disruption of services during the post-petition period and that payments relating to those services will be made promptly in the ordinary course of business. ACI has also agreed to provide debtor in possession financing to OAN in order to maintain an orderly transition of the business. Under the asset purchase agreement, ACI has agreed to pay approximately $19.7 million consisting of a combination of assumed liabilities, debtor in possession financing and cash. OAN assets to be purchased include customer contracts, local exchange carrier contracts for providing billing services, certain hardware and software technology, and a customer care call center. ``We are pleased to be able to assist OAN's management and customers during this challenging period,'' commented Patrick J. Haynes III, chairman of Avery. ``Our focus in this transaction is to provide financial stability for OAN's creditors and continuity of services for their customers. ``The potential combination of OAN and HBS will position us as a market leader in the LEC clearinghouse market with an unrivaled depth of services and the highest quality of support for our customers. The synergies created by the combination will reduce overall operating costs and provide additional revenues to meet our growth objectives. This transaction meets our investment criteria for growth opportunities within the LEC billing clearinghouse market.'' ``While we regret having to take this action, we believe it ultimately will be in the best interests of all stakeholders,'' said Harvey Berg, president of OAN Services. ``OAN's primary concern remains continuity of service for its customers, and Avery's involvement helps achieve that objective. In addition, the OAN/Avery combination will be much stronger, with the necessary resources that enable it to thrive in a highly competitive environment.'' __________________________________ Avery Communications Inc. Enters Into Agreement With Qorus.com Inc. to Acquire Aelix Assets Avery Communications Inc. (OTCBB:ATEX), a provider of customer care and billing services, announced it has reached a definitive agreement with Qorus.com Inc. to acquire the messaging assets of Qorus.com Inc., known as ``Aelix,'' a global notification and messaging clearinghouse for Customer Relations Management (CRM) services. The consummation of this transaction will be subject to a number of conditions, including appropriate regulatory approval, the affirmative votes of shareholders of the selling company, and receipt of fairness opinions. ``The proposed transaction is consistent with Avery's business expansion strategy to leverage our expertise of providing billing and customer care solutions to the telecommunications industry to other industries and immediately positions us with established global partners in the travel and hospitality markets. This transaction supports management's growth objectives without a significant dilutive impact on earnings,'' commented Patrick J. Haynes, III, chairman of Avery Communications. ``Qorus has begun to pursue other business opportunities to leverage its expertise in information communications,'' according to Thomas C. Ratchford, Qorus' chief financial officer. The new business opportunities will likely focus in the business services area. ``We hope to reposition Qorus as a leader in one or more business service areas. There have been opportunities to add value to profitable cash-flow businesses,'' he said. ``We are excited about the prospect of becoming a part of Avery Communications Inc. This acquisition progresses Aelix from a venture capital stage company to an operational business subsidiary of an organization with a much stronger financial base,'' said Aelix Chief Executive Officer Wesley N. Waite, Sr. ``To assure continuity within our industry we will maintain the Aelix corporate identity and continue to offer our OmniReach(SM) product. ``The additional financial and technical resources available from Avery should increase our efforts to develop next-generation platforms that target enhanced services capabilities and product offerings. I believe the strength of Avery will substantially increase our penetration of the travel and hospitality markets.'' OmniReach(SM), Aelix's flagship product, enables secure, real-time, bidirectional communications between companies and their customers via a number of different media and devices worldwide. The company currently provides services to Hilton Hotels (NYSE:HLT - news) and Northwest Airlines (NYSE:NWA - news). A complete list of recent news releases can be found at www.aelix.com/apress.htm. About Aelix Inc. Founded in January 2000 in Los Angeles, Aelix is a provider of intelligent communications solutions to enterprises, notably in the travel and hospitality, financial services and electronic commerce sectors. The company's solutions are a key enabler of improved Customer Relationship Management (CRM), supply and demand chain management, and sales force automation for a growing number of Fortune 500 companies. Aelix delivers its carrier-grade services through an ASP (Application Service Provider) business model. The company's strength is identifying best-of-breed Internet Protocol (IP) applications and integrating them into easy-to-deploy, customizable solutions that deliver measurable value to enterprise and service provider customers. __________________________________ About Avery Communications Avery is a service company engaged in providing customer care and billing services, including billing and collection clearinghouse services for inter-exchange carriers and long-distance resellers, through its operating subsidiary HBS Billing Services. HBS Billing Services' customers consist primarily of direct-dial long-distance telephone companies. The company's clearinghouse operations are based in San Antonio, where it maintains billing arrangements with approximately 1,300 telephone companies that provide access lines to, and collect for services from, end users of telecommunication services. HBS Billing Services processes transaction records and collects the related end-user charges from local exchange carriers for its customers. HBS also provides enhanced billing services for transactions related to providers of premium services or products that can be billed through the local exchange telephone companies, such as Internet access, voice mail services and other telecommunications charges. Certain statements contained in this document may be deemed to be forward-looking statements under federal securities laws, and Avery intends that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbor created thereby. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, risks as detailed from time to time in Avery Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including its registration statements on Form SB-2, quarterly reports on Form 10-QSB, current reports on Form 8-K and annual reports on Form 10-KSB. __________________________________ Contact: Investor Network Co., Downey, Calif. Bill E. Young, 888/887-6512 (toll-free) www.averycommunications.com Please go to www.theinvestoronline.com/research/atex051401.html to see a complete Research Report. _____________________________________________________ IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER TheInvestorOnline is an independent electronic publication providing information on selected public companies. Any company profiled by TheInvestorOnline pays cash or stock consideration for the electronic dissemination of the company's information for a specified time period and/or our comments about the company and/or our development of the company's website. 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