E Com Ventures Inc. to Acquire Stake in Marketing Company Backus Turner International

Business Wire, April 24, 2000

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 24, 2000

To ensure that its extensive network of e-commerce companies gets the benefit of leading-edge advertising and promotion, E Com Ventures Inc. (Nasdaq:ECMV) Monday announced the signing of a Letter of Intent with Backus Turner International.

Miami-based Backus Turner is an award-winning marketing and advertising agency with recognized expertise in both traditional and Internet media. Subject to due diligence, the transaction is scheduled for completion by May 31, 2000. Upon contract execution, E Com Ventures Inc. will own approximately 30% of the agency.

The signing of the letter of intent in the face of recent stock market declines evidences ECOMV's belief that many of the affected Internet companies suffered not only from a lack of traffic to their sites but also from a lack of effective marketing, advertising and public relations. This affiliation with Backus Turner will enable the ECOMV companies to have the expertise in these areas available to them on a continuous basis.

Backus Turner International brings to the portfolio of companies under the ECOMV umbrella 25 years of experience in marketing, advertising, branding and public relations. The agency is one of the foremost providers of third-party marketing and campaign management solutions to online advertisers and e-commerce websites as well as clients that rely on mainstream marketing and advertising.

It is because of Backus Turner's strength in the marketplace and wide-ranging expertise that ECOMV is seeking to consummate a partnership alliance. Noted Chairman/CEO Ilia Lekach, "Backus Turner's proven ability to develop programs that drive online traffic and channel it for maximum exposure will exponentially increase the effectiveness of ECOMV's marketing strategies by cross-promoting the products and services of its members and expanding ECOMV's Internet community."

This strategic acquisition meets ECOMV's stated objective of investing in and developing successful e-commerce opportunities by fostering synergies among member companies to maximize shareholder value. The most recent additions to ECOMV's e-commerce network include: Cellpoint.net (an online wireless wholesaler and retailer), The Sportsman's Guide (a major Internet and catalog retailer with state-of-the-art logistic capabilities), NetechPlus (a total Business-to-Business technology solution for online enterprises) and TakeToAuction (an online membership community of entrepreneurs who profit from auctioning products on the best Internet auction sites). Coupled with its wholly-owned subsidiary, Perfumania Marketing Inc., which boasts approximately 1,600 employees, 270 designer fragrance stores and $190 million in annual sales, the entire network makes the ECOMV group one of the Internet's premier catalog, click and mortar companies.

Noted CEO Roberta Backus of Backus Turner International: "ECOMV is entrusting to us the traditional and e-commerce promotional campaigns for a network of companies worth hundreds of millions of dollars. We're gratified that ECOMV sidestepped bigger New York agencies to seek us out. We're also confident Backus Turner is up to the challenge. This agency was embracing the Internet as the wave of the future long before our colleagues. As a result, we bring to the table solid marketing and creative talent combined with a very high level of technical expertise. Our relationship with ECOMV will enable us to share this expertise with a fast-emerging group of related e-commerce companies. It will also provide us with a platform for launching our own on-line concepts. ECOMV's aggressive entrepreneurial approach and the expertise of its community of companies will provide benefits that far surpass what we could achieve on our own."

ECOMV's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ilia Lekach, added: "Bringing Backus Turner under our umbrella will enable each of our companies to benefit from the agency's wealth of experience and tremendous creative talent. In turn, Backus Turner will be able to take advantage of the expertise of our member companies while seeing billings literally skyrocket as a result of the volume of work generated by these enterprises and other ECOMV relationships."

E Com Ventures Inc. facilitates cross marketing and cross-promotional opportunities between its member companies, its affiliated e-commerce companies and its wholly owned subsidiary, Perfumania Marketing Inc. with approximately 1,600 employees, 270 designer fragrance stores and $190 million in annual sales. E Com Ventures Inc. supports e-commerce startups or existing B to B or B to C companies by providing them with development strategies, including marketing and technological support as well as financial participation.

This press release may include information presented which contains forward-looking information, including statements regarding the strategic direction of the companies. These comments constitute forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995), which involve significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the information discussed in these forward-looking statements. Among the factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievement to differ materially from those described or implied in the forward-looking statements are general economic conditions, competition, potential technology changes, changes in or the lack of anticipated changes in the regulatory environment in various countries, the ability to secure partnership or joint-venture relationships with other entities, the ability to raise additional capital to finance expansion, and the risks inherent in new product and service introductions and the entry into new geographic markets.