LAS VEGAS, April 24, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- PurchasePro (Nasdaq:PPRO) today announced that its board of directors has appointed Richard L. Clemmer, 49, as vice chairman and chief financial officer. Clemmer succeeds James Clough as CFO, who served as the company's interim chief financial officer since April 2000. PurchasePro had previously announced Clemmer's appointment to its board of directors on April 11, 2001.
Clemmer most recently served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Quantum Corporation (NYSE:DSS) (NYSE:HDD), the world's largest supplier of DLTtape(tm) automation systems and a leader in data protection, where he initiated and managed more than $2 billion in mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures.
Prior to joining Quantum, Clemmer was senior vice president and chief financial officer of Texas Instruments' $8 billion Semiconductor Group. While at Texas Instruments, Clemmer spearheaded the company's joint ventures with Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi, Canon, Acer Computer, Kobe Steel, and the Singapore government.
Charles E. Johnson, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer, said, "We are pleased and grateful that Rick Clemmer has joined PurchasePro. When we initiated our search for a chief financial officer, we knew it was crucial to hire a seasoned professional who is highly recognized in the financial community and who has significant mergers and acquisitions experience, as well as substantive roles in scaling business. Rick Clemmer exceeded our expectations. His addition to the PurchasePro team is a major step in establishing the premier management team in the e-commerce space."
"I look forward to making a significant contribution to PurchasePro," said Clemmer. "I believe PurchasePro is now the leading business-to-business, e-commerce company in the industry. Its growth over the past year has been remarkable in light of the challenges of scaling a rapidly growing company in today's economic environment. There is no question that my experience will provide a substantial contribution to the company in achieving its dynamic objectives."
Clemmer holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Texas Tech University and a master's in business administration from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
Transitioning from his role as interim CFO, Clough will become senior executive vice president of global corporate development. In this position, he will head corporate development and focus on driving growth in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), Asia and Latin America.
"Jim Clough has served well as the company's interim chief financial officer," said Johnson. "We expect to significantly scale our international efforts with him at the helm. The international market is currently experiencing rapid e-commerce growth, and we expect PurchasePro will position itself as the leading enabler domestically and internationally," Johnson continued.
About PurchasePro
PurchasePro, a leader in business-to-business e-commerce, operates the PurchasePro global marketplace, encompassing more than 140,000 businesses and powering hundreds of private-label marketplaces with its highly scalable, browser-based e-commerce engine.
PurchasePro's solutions enable businesses of all sizes to easily buy and sell products and services, and compete more effectively by enhancing sales opportunities, reducing procurement costs and greatly increasing employee productivity. PurchasePro offers the following e-commerce solutions: e-Procurement for corporate procurement, v-Distributor for online distributors, and e-MarketMaker for Internet market makers.
The company provides extensive support and training programs. For information, call toll free at (888) 830-4600 or in Las Vegas at (702) 316-7000 or visit www.purchasepro.com.
Note to Editors: PurchasePro is a servicemark of PurchasePro.com Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. This news release includes forward-looking statements that are subject to the "Safe Harbor" created by Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements (which involve the company's plans, beliefs and goals, refer to estimates or use similar terms) involve certain risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties associated with rapidly changing technologies such as the Internet; the risks of technology development; and the risks of competition that can cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements represent only the views of certain members of management and do not necessarily represent a consensus of all employees and managers within the company. Moreover, those forward-looking statements are based on limited information available to the company now, which is subject to change. It should be clearly understood that the factors and perceptions on which these forward-looking statements are based are highly likely to change over time and that the company has no current plan to update these statements. Actual results may differ substantially from what the company says today and no one should assume at a later date that the forward-looking statements provided herein are still valid. They speak only as of today. For more information about these risks and uncertainties, see the SEC filings of PurchasePro Inc., including the section titled "Factors That May Affect Results" in its 10-K filing for the period ended Dec. 31, 1999, and its 10-Q for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2000, which is available from the company on request and on the Internet at the SEC's Web site, http://www.sec.gov.