MONTREAL and VANCOUVER, Canada, Oct. 6, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Accovia(TM) Inc., the global leader in travel packaging technology, and SCS Solars Computing Systems, Inc. (Solars), a leading provider of business-to-business content management and distribution systems for the travel industry, today announced that Solars has purchased Accovia's Portland-based operation, formally known as Tech7 Systems Inc. This purchase includes the SpeedRes technology solution, associated contracts, related assets and technical support. The terms of the sale involve cash, commissions and royalties.
Accovia and Solars also announced that they have entered into discussions regarding a possible strategic partnership aimed at leveraging unique market synergies, based on the companies' respective technologies. The Solars acquisition of the Portland operation and SpeedRes technology is not contingent upon an additional partnership agreement.
Accovia SpeedRes is a reservations, accounting, operations and marketing system designed for small- to mid-size travel agencies, tour operators and travel wholesalers.
"This acquisition automatically expands our market reach in North America by adding the SpeedRes clients to our customer base," said Rick Ridding, president of Solars. "While we intend to continue to fully support and maintain the SpeedRes solution, we are very confident that the bulk of the customer base will choose to migrate to Solars' TourTek technology. TourTek is cutting-edge tour inventory management software with superior I/P functionality, available in a Service Bureau format. Acquiring SpeedRes gives us a broader audience to whom we can offer this superior application."
"We are committed to providing travel suppliers, wholesalers and retailers with state-of-the-art technology solutions for procuring, packaging, distributing and managing multi-component travel services. We are considering Solars' Consolidator Content as a viable complement to our e-procurement offering," said Claude Guay, President and CEO of Accovia. "The current transaction with Solars allows us to focus our development, sales and marketing efforts on dynamic packaging technology solutions for major travel providers, while ensuring that smaller operators continue to receive quality products and services."
About Solars
Solars (Solars Computing Systems Inc.) (TSX Venture Exchange:SCS) (Other OTC:SCSIF) is a leading provider of flexible and affordable information technology solutions for the travel industry. Solars' TourTek Service Bureau offers similar functionality to that of a full in-house system at a fraction of the cost; including a universal front-end for unique, wholesaler web site development, to enable B2C or B2B inventory bookings. All individual tour data is housed on a 100% secure Oracle database disc partition, insuring complete product integrity. TourTek Service Bureau is geared to the small- to mid-sized tour operator with a 'pay as they go' pricing structure. Solars' network product, SolarNet can query content from any source and distribute to any presentation layer in bookable form via a powerful combination of the Internet and the GDS networks, thereby reaching over 95% of the world's travel agents. This universal accessibility provides the travel agent with instant access to their favorite consolidators via their GDS or the Solars' web-based product @ www.solars.biz. Founded in 1992, Solars is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. For more information about Solars, visit www.solars.com.
About Accovia
Accovia, Inc. is the global leader in dynamic packaging technology for the travel industry. The company offers the industry's most robust travel automation and management product suite, which includes automated procurement, dynamic packaging, e-commerce and e-distribution of travel services through GDS, call center and Internet travel channels. Accovia's technology solutions enable travel marketers and distributors to significantly increase profit margins through the ability to dynamically create and customize travel packages, which are then sold under a single price. The company provides the only complete travel distribution service that cost-effectively connects travel marketers and distributors to GDSs and Internet travel channels using a single connection. Accovia's technology solutions can be fully customized and privately labeled to accommodate diverse business models. More than 100 travel companies in 11 countries use Accovia's technology to send over 20 million people on trips each year. Founded in 1985, the company has offices in the United States, Canada and France. For more information about Accovia, visit www.accovia.com.
Accovia is a trademark of Accovia, Inc. Any other marks used in this document are trademarks or registered trademarks of the manufacturers or marketers of the products with which the marks are associated.
This Media Release may contain forward-looking statements, which reflect the Corporation's current expectations regarding future events. The forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual events could differ from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors including the success of the Corporation's sales strategies