TORONTO, Jan. 29, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) --EdgeTech Services, Inc., (OTCBB:EDGH) a total business solutions provider specializing in IT Security and outsourced services, today announced that it has retained the services of Illumina Partners and its two principals Upkar Arora and David Wright.
Illumina will assist Edgetech management in the implementation and management of a growth strategy that enhances Edgetech's capacity and increases market reach -- including delivery of acquisitions. Illumina Partners' mandate is to accelerate Edgetech's progress towards becoming an IT security services leader.
Mr. Arora has considerable experience in mergers and acquisitions, finance and operations. Prior to forming Illumina Partners, Mr. Arora was most recently executive vice president and a principal in Reliance Aerotech where he completed two acquisitions and two dispositions over a fourteen month period enabling the company to generate a significant return on investment in the aerospace sector. As Chief Financial Officer of a battery technology company, he was instrumental in completing a CAD $50 million initial public offering. He was also former Managing Director of Oncap Investment Partners, a private equity fund established with Onex Corporation, which successfully raised $400M CAD for investing in small cap companies in North America.
Mr. Arora held senior finance positions with TrizecHahn Corporation in Toronto, California, and England where he negotiated joint venture agreements, and executed large public and private equity and debt financings in North America and Europe. From 1988 to 1995, Arora was part of a small team responsible for various finance, business development, operational and treasury functions for various entities controlled by Paul Reichmann, including Reichmann International and Olympia and York Developments. He has also held various positions at Nortel Networks Inc. and KPMG. He is a Chartered Accountant and Certified Management Accountant. Arora obtained a Master's degree from the University of Waterloo, Ontario.
Mr. Wright had previously founded, built and later sold Sage Information Consultants to Envoy. He has also held senior positions with Microsoft Canada as Director of Sales and Director of Operations and Product Support. He was also Controller of Nortern Telecom's Canadian operations, which had revenues over $2 Billion CAD and has worked for KPMG in the past.
Mr. Wright is a CA with a degree in Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario. He brings extensive experience in operations, business development and sales. His role is to assist in business development and operations.
"We are absolutely thrilled to welcome the incredible breadth of this dynamic and powerful team to our company," said Tae Ho Kim, CEO of EdgeTech Services. "This is a major milestone for our company and one of first key steps in our aggressive growth plans for the future through acquisitions and mergers."
The formerly announced alliance with ICI will not proceed.
About Illumina Partners
Illumina Partners Inc. provides capital and advisory services to small to mid sized businesses. Through direct application of its strong operational, financial and strategic expertise, Illumina repositions companies to generate sustained profitability and manage growth.
About EdgeTech Services
Edgetech's primary business is IT Consulting covering the following areas: IT Security, Biometrics, Business Solutions, Systems Engineering, Software Development and Project management.
Edgetech is a Business Partner to Microsoft, IBM, Symantec, Counterpane and many others. Edgetech's clients include major government and private sector clients in Canada and the United States. Some of these clients include: IBM, Falconbridge, Bell Nexxia, Rogers Telecom and Province of Ontario. The Edgetech website is www.edgetechservices.com
Press Contacts: For more information contact Tae Ho Kim, CEO 204-943-0803, or tkim@edgetechservices.com.
This press release includes forward-looking statements. These statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Inherent risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties are described in the periodic reports the Company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release.
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