LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE) -- Oct. 5, 2000 -- Vertical Computer Systems Inc. (OTCBB:VCSY), a leading provider of Web-based multi-lingual portals, e-business solutions and developer of proprietary software, today announced that pursuant to litigation initiated by the company, it has entered into a global settlement agreement with Patrice Lambert and Marc Elalouf.
Although the terms of the settlement agreement are to remain confidential, the two principal points of the agreement called for the transfer of Externet World Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, to Lambert and Elalouf, and in return the company received $1.1 million (``Cash Payment'') and 140 million shares of its common stock.
Upon receipt of the Cash Payment, the company's current cash position is now $8.3 million. In addition, the company immediately retired the 140 million shares it received and thereby reduced its total outstanding shares by approximately 15 percent.
``The sale of Externet World Inc. for $1.1 million and resolving this litigation were our primary concerns in settling this matter,'' stated Richard Wade, president of Vertical Computer Systems.
``Due to recent complexities of gaming legislation and the uncertain future of online gaming in the U.S. and abroad, we believed that the best course of action was to divest this business and focus on our core business model -- developing our Home Country Gateway (HCG) network and developing and marketing our XML-based software suite (Emily(TM) Framework).''
The company provides a full range of Internet services that include building e-commerce solutions nationally and internationally, distributing content via multi-lingual portal networks (www.thebrazilbridge.com; www.thechinabridge.com) and e-mail services (www.thepostmaster.net).
The company is also a leading developer of proprietary software for the Internet, including the Emily(TM) Framework (www.emilysolutions.com), a programming environment that enables the creation of Web sites that use the XML standard and intercommunicate via XML and HTTP.
VCSY also acquired Globalfare.com -- a one-stop Internet travel center, which can be visited at www.globalfare.com. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.vcsy.com.
This release contains, in addition to historical information, forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, competition from other portals, the company's ability to integrate information from other countries, new product acceptance and those described in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.