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OGCbuying.solutions Has Announced its Intent to Enter into a Framework Agreement with PA Shared Services Ltd. Wednesday June 15, 2:00 am ET Elcom to Provide its PECOS eMarketplace System for the U.K.'s Zanzibar eMarketplace
NORWOOD, Mass., June 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Elcom International, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: ELCO and AIM: ELC and ELCS), today announced that the Company has been informed that OGCbuying.solutions has announced its intent to award the Zanzibar service contract to PA Shared Services Ltd. PA Shared Services Ltd. ("PA") is a wholly owned subsidiary of PA Consulting Group to manage the consortium that will create and operate the Zanzibar services. PA is the primary contractor, with Elcom providing the eProcurement, eMarketplace and catalogue content components of the Zanzibar eMarketplace system to PA along with several other consortium members. This intent to enter into a Framework Agreement is subject to the newly promulgated 10-calendar day Alcatel waiting period. The signing of a back-to-back agreement between Elcom and PA is subject to Elcom's funding as discussed herein. Robert J. Crowell, Elcom International, Inc.'s Chairman and CEO said, "The Zanzibar service is a very sophisticated and very large scale eMarketplace available to all the Public Sector Bodies in the U.K. We are extremely pleased and look forward to being able to work with PA in delivering this strategic solution. As UK public sector organizations joining Zanzibar will not have to go out to tender in order to implement the system, we expect Zanzibar to receive a very positive reception and believe it will evolve into one of the largest eMarketplace in the world."
Zanzibar is an eProcurement system that offers 3 features: * an electronic marketplace containing details of Public Sector supplier contracts * a Purchase to Pay solution * a pan-UK Public Sector data warehouse
Zanzibar will provide a 'Procure to Pay', eMarketplace operated by PA, including an eHub (data warehouse, single point of access to the government marketplace for buyers and suppliers), hosted common and individual catalogues and 'punch out' to catalogues as well as non-catalogue transactions. Zanzibar will be documented via an OGCbuying.solutions Framework Agreement and run as a Managed Service on behalf of U.K. Government departments and agencies, which are expected to join as individual agencies.
The signing of a back-to-back contract with PA is contingent upon Elcom securing strategic funding, which cannot be consummated until after the Company's Annual General Meeting ("AGM") on 29 June 2005. The Company intends to raise funding to improve its balance sheet and increase its working capital via the issuance of shares to be listed on the AIM exchange in London. One of the items to be voted on by the Company's shareholders is to authorize additional common shares for the Company to enable Elcom to have enough shares to issue to the (potential) purchasers of its shares to be listed on the AIM. The Company is seeking, and must also consummate tactical funding during June, prior to the AGM, in order to continue to operate. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that a back-to-back agreement with PA will be signed or that the Company's issuance of shares will be consummated.
About OGCbuying.solutions
OGCbuying.solutions is an Executive Agency of the U.K. Government's Office of Government Commerce, in HM Treasury. Our role is to deliver value for money gains for central civil government and the wider public sector through our dedicated, professional procurement service.
We provide our customers with a full range of products and services designed to encourage effective procurement, achieve measurable cost savings and improve the efficiency of the purchasing function throughout the public sector.
PA Consulting Group is a leading management, systems and technology consulting firm. Operating worldwide in more than 35 countries, PA draws on the knowledge and experience of 3,000 people, whose skills span the initial generation of ideas, insights and solutions all the way through to detailed implementation.
PA focuses on creating benefits for clients rather than merely proposing them. Our work is founded on powerful insights into our clients' issues, and in the private sector in particular, on the need to deliver superior shareholder returns. We help accelerate business growth by developing innovative products for our clients and by the application of emerging technology. We deliver major transformation programs, mobilize human resources, and manage complex IT and technically-challenging programs.
PA's results-focused approach is founded on a unique commitment to excellence, value and independence.