MBT International Prepares To Launch Online Auction Applications For $300 Billion Agricultural Industry

Business Wire, Dec 29, 1998

CASTLE ROCK, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 29, 1998--MBT International, Inc. (OTCBB: MBTI), parent company of AgriMall.com (www.agrimall.com), announced today that as a result of the pending acquisition of HorseNet.com (www.horsenet.com), and the blending of shared technology between the firms, MBTI is poised to enter the online auction services made famous by pioneers of Internet commerce such as eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY).

Andy McKinnon, CEO of MBT International, stated "Within the next two weeks, the Company's online auction service will be launched with nearly $100 million of content for sale. This will create one of the largest agricultural websites and quite conceivably the most valuable online auction inventory in the world. These agricultural products and services will initially be offered through the established `passive auction' environment currently in vogue on the Internet. Within the first quarter of 1999, MBTI will launch a live monitored auction environment offering a vast array of goods and services for the agricultural industry. The Company's system will allow buyers and sellers from around the world to transact business in a real time auction setting via the Internet."

The combined value of present listings in the AgriMall.com site and its companion www.lifeathome.com site exceeds $37 million, while the total value of listings since the service's inception is over $60 million, with broker sales exceeding $16 million. As previously announced, HorseNet.com has an existing database of 15,000 horses for sale in its HorseNet SaleBarn, representing approximately $50 million of inventory.

MBTI's strategy is to build very strong web portals such as AgriMall.com to become a leader in the $300 billion agricultural industry. To accelerate the process, MBTI is evaluating highly focused acquisitions that will further increase both the traffic and volume of E-commerce at AgriMall.com. MBTI applies technologies currently in use by online auction and marketing houses such as eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY), Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) and uBid (NASDAQ: UBID).

Certain statements in this release are forward looking. Although MBT International, Inc. (Company) believes its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions within the bounds of its knowledge of business and operations, there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from expectations. For factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations and underlying assumptions, see reports by the Company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.