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March 1, 2005
Written
by Bob Meyer, Editor of BarterNews
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Bartercard
Going Public Via Reverse Takeover
Deal
Is Barter Industry’s Largest Ever
The directors
of Universal Direct have announced that an agreement has been reached,
subject to shareholders’ approval, to purchase the entire
issued share capital of Bartercard International.
The purchase
will encompass the issuance of 217 million new Universal Direct
ordinary shares, with the price valuing Bartercard at 65 million
pounds.
Bartercard is
the world’s largest trade exchange and has company-owned operations
in the UK and Australia. Licensed agreements in other countries
around the world include the USA, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Thailand,
as well as throughout the Middle East and Asia. (There are 130 company
owned or franchised offices worldwide.)
Since Bartercard’s
founding, February 1991 in Australia, the growth in new members
has been consistently strong and now numbers in excess of 70,000
businesses/companies.
Sources of revenue
from the firm’s subsidiaries are: trading commissions (from
buyer and seller on each transaction) 70%, publication and subscription
fees (10%), administration fees (15%), and franchise sales (5%).
One of the fastest
growing parts of Bartercard’s operation is its e-commerce
operation, launched in 2002. Twenty-five thousand items are now
displayed on its global site.
Bartercard’s
audited earnings for the past three years ending June 30 are as
follows:
Revenues for
2002 A$42,063,748; 2003 A$45,580,970; and 2004 A$49,105,352.
Profits or losses
after tax for 2002 (A$3,212,625); 2003 A$852,914; and 2004 A$2,350,916.
(Bartercard
International is audited under US GAAP accounting and is required
to disclose all financials in the currency where the largest proportion
of revenues are earned, which is from the largest Bartercard operation
being the wholly owned subsidiary in Australia.)
Commenting on
the acquisition, Universal Direct’s Executive Chairman, David
Wright said, “Apart from the outstanding growth opportunities
at Bartercard, Universal will be a major beneficiary of its expanding
e-commerce site. Over the last two years, Universal Direct incurred
stock losses, resulting in significant trading losses. Utilizing
Bartercard’s web site and global scale should...improve the
group’s negotiating position for reverse logistic contracts.”
Bartercard’s
CEO and founder Wayne Sharpe stressed, “The opportunity to
become publicly listed via a reverse takeover is something we have
pursued for the last three years, since I relocated to the UK. However
it required a combination of events, including the emergence of
the UK and e-commerce as profit centres. We are pleased to be able
to add value to the Universal Direct shareholders...and look forward
to the company re-listing under the name of Bartercard plc.”
Sharpe shared
with BarterNews that the time frame to closure is approximately
five weeks. “Then,” he disclosed, “it’s
back on track for growing the company to the next level.”
The board of
directors of the merged company will consist of a consolidation
of the two companies’ boards, with David Wright as Chairman
and Wayne Sharpe as CEO. (For more information go to
www.bartercard.com.)
“What
we have here is a failure to communicate!”
Years ago, one
of the most visible people in the barter industry said the #1 reason
why the industry wasn’t farther along in its development was
due to a “failure to communicate” by those in the business.
This realization
was the genesis of The Competitive Edge newsletter, now
into its 18th year of publication. Trade exchange owners who use
this powerful marketing and promotional tool are never guilty of
“failing to communicate.”
As the owner
of a trade exchange you must stay in front of your clients. Informing,
educating, and inspiring them, because your clients’ bartering
is a relatively small percentage of their overall business. So if
you don’t keep their interest and enthusiasm for trade at
a high level, you lose.
Your primary
aim, like all other businesses, is to get your clients coming back
for more. Every extraordinary business (and every trade exchange
owner who wants to be extraordinary) knows that the customer you
have, is a lot less expensive to sell than the customer you don’t
yet have!
Want to take
your exchange to a higher level? Use The Competitive Edge newsletter
in your operation—it “sells” the many benefits
of working through your trade exchange like nothing else!
To
learn more about The Competitive Edge newsletter and how
it can help build your trade exchange,
click here.
From
the 1997 archives of BarterNews...
A
Once Mighty & Proud Manufacturer Rebounds Via Barter
Kaiser Steel,
a company founded by Henry Kaiser in 1941 to churn out steel for
WWII warships, staggered into bankruptcy in 1987.
The once-mighty
manufacturer’s only products recently have been lawsuits,
debts and bitterness. But now they’re emerging from the ashes
with a barter assist.
The new Kaiser
doesn’t make steel, and only employs a bare-bones staff of
about two dozen. But by bartering its land for stakes in new businesses,
Kaiser is now coming to life!
They’re
involved in industries as varied as the new California Speedway
racetrack—Kaiser traded the land for $50 million of stock
in Penske Motorsports, which owns the 90,000-seat auto racetrack
on the site of the former Kaiser steel mill in Fontana.
Well-water,
once used to cool steel, is now being leased on a yearly basis for
millions-of-dollars. And they’ve converted an iron-ore mine
into a massive dump that will bring in even more millions annually.
Get
New Money-Making Ideas And Valuable Contacts!
You can obtain
useful, informative ideas and contacts in every available back-issue
of BarterNews.
From
the 1997 archives of BarterNews...
Lucas
Working On Huge Barter Deal
Star Wars creator
George Lucas’ company Lucasfilm is quietly negotiating a huge
barter deal that will see one company having the toy manufacturing
rights to a new series of his upcoming films.
Offers reportedly
approaching $1 billion are on the table with Lucas getting a sizable
equity (ownership) stake in the toy company with which he eventually
barters.
Just
published...BarterNews issue #64, get your copy
now! Orders will be shipped within two business days of publication.
Click on Order Form.
(If you
are not sure if your subscription has lapsed, e-mail your name,
address, and zip code to bmeyer@barternews.com.)
From
the 1998 archives of BarterNews...
And
You Think You Have Competition!
Understandably,
we’re all plugged into our own industry—well aware of
what’s happening, who the leaders are, what works, what doesn’t.
Sometimes, especially
during our day-to-day grinds, we may think about other businesses...how
they might be different, more exciting, with less competition, less
pressure, less risk, etc.
At these times
it’s worthwhile to consider what the “other side”
faces, too. The grass probably isn’t greener anywhere else,
just different.
Here’s
a situation to ponder: What is the investment in time, energy and
money that it takes for success in the motion picture industry?
Imagine investing
from two to five years of your time, and $25 to $100 million or
more in a new product. Then spending another $20 to $30 million
to advertise it, and if it’s not a winner watching it disappear
from the market in less than a month!
That’s
the sobering formula for many a motion-picture release these days.
Every
barter company in the world is listed on our web site,
click through to our Global List
of Barter Companies.
Bentley
Commerce Offers Affiliates NSF Check Recovery Service
Bentley Commerce
(OTCBB:BLYC) is offering its affiliated exchanges the CollectAChek
(www.collectachek.com)
system to recover 100% of the face value of non sufficient fund
consumer checks, up to $2,500. There is no cost of collection to
their member businesses for these NSF checks, and participating
exchanges receive a share of state-authorized recovery fees.
“This
is part of our on-going efforts to offer innovative revenue opportunities
to our online affiliate exchanges, which handle transactions for
approximately 18,000 businesses, as well as our off-line trade exchange
network that works with an estimated 50,000 businesses,” announced
Bruce Kamm, Bentley’s CEO.
CollectAChek,
a company affiliated with Bentley, recovers bounced checks for a
wide range of businesses which include Discount Tire, Meineke Car
Care Centers, Goodwill Industries, Subway, Fantastic Sams, Supercuts,
Le Gourmet Chef, Kelly-Moore Paints, Boys & Girls Clubs of America,
and Jackson Hewitt Tax Services.
Kamm says Bentley
Commerce will offer its free check recovery services to all the
member businesses using Bentley’s Global Trade Alliance. (For
more information go to www.bentleycommerce.com.)
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Here
& There...
- If you've
missed any of our weekly Tuesday Reports the past five
years we have an archive of issues for you at the bottom of this
week's letter...check it out!
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