Exhibit 99.1
MARKET CENTRAL LETTERHEAD
Contact: Jim Rapp
Market Central, Inc.
888-773-3501 x 5010
MARKET CENTRAL TO ACQUIRE CONVEY SYSTEMS
BOARD APPOINTS CONVEY'S DOYAL BRYANT PRESIDENT AND CEO
JACKSONVILLE, NC--- (BUSINESS WIRE) - APRIL 22, 2004 - MARKET CENTRAL, INC. (OTC
BB: MKTE), a provider of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) services and
solutions, today announced that the Board of Directors has approved a letter of
intent to acquire the assets of Convey Systems, Inc., including patents,
intellectual property, software, and certain other assets, from Convey's parent
company, The Tag Group, Inc. (PNK: TGGP). The transaction is subject to the
approval of the stockholders of The Tag Group, Inc. It is expected that the
transaction will close within 60 - 90 days.
Effective immediately, the Board has entered into an interim management
agreement naming Mr. Doyal Bryant, President and CEO of Convey Systems, to serve
as the President and CEO of Market Central, Inc., pending the consummation of
the transaction. In addition, Mr. Preston Rodenbaugh, an executive officer in
Convey, will serve as Executive Vice President of Market Central under the same
management agreement. Terrence J. Leifheit, current President and CEO will
continue to serve as a Director of the Company.
Convey Systems, Inc., a Charlotte, North Carolina-based company provides
web-based collaboration software systems with national and international
customers in financial, travel, and libraries services. Convey System software
is recognized as one of the world's leading virtual reference tools for the
libraries of the world. The company's proprietary Web-based collaboration
software, OnDemand(TM), complements and expands Market Central's existing CTI
(computer telephony integration), contact center, and data software lines of
business. OnDemand(TM) provides digital video, voice over IP, desktop
application sharing and collaboration, supported by text chat and co-browsing
capabilities in a single, easy-to-use solution. The addition of Convey Systems'
OnDemand(TM) product line to Market Central's current operations will enable
Market Central's contact centers to operate as sophisticated, multi-media
customer contact centers on an outsourced basis.
Additionally, Market Central intends to combine its SourceWare(TM) software with
OnDemand(TM) in a new software licensing division that will provide more
sophisticated data search capabilities to its contact center clients.
SourceWare(TM) is a powerful next-generation search engine application that
captures, integrates, cleanses and organizes back office and customer data for
data mining.
"We see tremendous synergies between our companies and sizeable opportunities to
leverage our client bases and technologies to achieve growth in new markets and
marketplaces with this acquisition," stated Glen H. Hammer, Chairman of the
Board of Market Central. "We foresee the introduction of highly cost-effective,
packaged solutions that offer very efficient alternatives in the Customer
Relationship Management arena. The addition of Convey's proprietary software to
that of Market Central presents a unique suite of products to increase our
market position and the value of Market Central for our shareholders. At the
same time, we add significantly to our management team with Doyal Bryant who has
over 25 years experience in senior corporate management, product development,
financing, operations and sales in all of our combined product areas."
Prior to Convey, Mr. Bryant held senior management or ownership positions in
companies that provided financial and technical due diligence services for major
investment banking firms with transactions valued at over $300 million. He
played an integral part in the growth and development of major telecommunication
companies such as ZTEL, Premiere Technologies, CommSouth, Talk.Com, PrimeTec
International, and ATMNet. His companies have developed international joint
venture agreements and investment transactions for Voice, VoIP, and Internet
related services in Canada, Mexico, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, as well as
several European and South American countries.
ABOUT CONVEY SYSTEMS
CONVEY SYSTEMS DEVELOPS AND PROVIDES COLLABORATION SOFTWARE FOR BUSINESS
COMMUNICATION. CONVEY'S PROPRIETARY SOLUTIONS ENABLE IMMEDIATE, PERSONALIZED YET
SECURE INTERACTION BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS VIA THE INTERNET BY LEVERAGING VIDEO,
VOICE-OVER IP, TEXT CHAT, CO-BROWSE AND APPLICATION-SHARE CAPABILITIES. CONVEY
SUPPORTS SUCH ONLINE APPLICATIONS AS VIRTUAL REFERENCE, UNIVERSITY
COMMUNICATIONS, FINANCIAL, E-LEARNING AND E-TRAINING, AND COMPUTER SUPPORT
SERVICES. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL 704-357-9710, OR VISIT:
WWW.CONVEYSYSTEMS.COM.
ABOUT MARKET CENTRAL
Headquartered in Atlanta, Market Central, Inc. is a full service Customer
Relationship Management (CRM) provider. The Company has developed a
next-generation suite of CRM solutions that include proprietary, patented
software for data capture, cleansing, mining, integration, search, and
intelligent document recognition. The Company is also a Microsoft development
partner for MS CRM solutions. Market Central provides other CRM services, such
as campaign management, and operates a 900-seat contact center to support the
software line of business and provide outsourced contact center services to
select clients as part of their overall CRM effort.
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This news release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements are indicated by words such as "expects," "intends," "anticipates,"
"believes" and similar expressions. Our ability to achieve the results
anticipated in such forward-looking statements is subject to risks and
uncertainties, including, without limitation, our ability to successfully
centralize and consolidate various support functions, in addition to general
economic conditions, operating results, market acceptance of our CRM solutions
and other risks detailed from time to time in our reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements are made in
accordance with "safe harbor" provided by the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995 and no assurance can be given that the future results that
are the subject of such forward-looking statements will be achieved. The Company
undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise the forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
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