FreeMarkets Announces New Agreement with Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; Agreement Extends Strategic Sourcing Relationship Through 2002

Business Wire, August 6, 2001

Business Editors

PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 6, 2001

FreeMarkets, Inc. (Nasdaq:FMKT), the leading global sourcing market and provider of e-sourcing software and service solutions, today announced that it has renewed its agreement with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for another year.

Under the terms of the agreement, FreeMarkets will continue to provide the Commonwealth with access to its global sourcing market, which the Commonwealth will use to source a variety of direct and indirect goods and services through 2002.

The Commonwealth was the first state to source goods and services online through FreeMarkets, and has been creating online markets as part of its strategic sourcing and e-commerce initiatives since 1999.

To date, the Commonwealth has sourced more than $220 million worth of goods and services through the FreeMarkets. Among the items the Commonwealth has bid through FreeMarkets: aluminum coil, anthracite coal, road salt, telecommunications installation services, personal computers, diesel fuel, loaders and back hoes and dump trucks

"We are very pleased to be extending our relationship with the Commonwealth," said Jim Zuffoletti, vice president and general manager of the public sector at FreeMarkets. "The Commonwealth is a leader in implementing e-commerce solutions to reduce costs and improve efficiencies, and we look forward to continuing to deliver measurable results and additional savings to the state and its taxpayers through our industry-leading eSourcing technology, market intelligence and services."

About FreeMarkets

FreeMarkets is the leading global sourcing market and provider of e-sourcing software and service solutions. Through its unique combination of industry-leading, web-based software, in-depth supply market information, market operations and expert sourcing services, FreeMarkets has helped customers around the world source more than $21 billion in goods and services in more than 185 different supply verticals and identify savings of more than $4 billion. FreeMarkets can be found on the Web at www.freemarkets.com. FreeMarkets(R) and BidWare(R) are registered trademarks of FreeMarkets, Inc., and FullSource(TM) and QuickSource(TM) are pending trademarks of FreeMarkets, Inc.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts, including those statements that refer to FreeMarkets' plans, prospects, expectations, financial projections, strategies, intentions, and beliefs, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on information available to FreeMarkets today, and FreeMarkets assumes no obligation to update these statements as circumstances change. There are risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, market acceptance of FreeMarkets' products and services, the competitive nature of the market for e-commerce products and services, FreeMarkets' ability to predict its revenues and earnings, FreeMarkets' inability to develop competitive new products and services on a timely basis, introduction of new products and services by competitors, declining or uncertain economic and industry conditions, FreeMarkets' ability to attract and retain personnel and other risk factors that are described in more detail in FreeMarkets' most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K/A, and its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.