Concentric Makes Strategic Investment in Corio - Company Business and Marketing

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, Nov 15, 1999

Concentric Network Corp., a leading provider of e-business solutions for small- to medium-sized companies, Tuesday announced it has made a $5 million dollar investment in Corio, Inc., a leading application service provider (ASP), offering high-growth companies outsourced, end-to-end enterprise application services over the Internet. As a commitment to Concentric's business relationship with Corio, Concentric is investing $5 million in Corio, as part of the closing of their Series C Preferred Stock Financing.

"This investment is a testament to our belief in Corio's business strategy in the ASP marketplace," said Henry R. Nothhaft, chairman, president and CEO of Concentric Network. "Corio is redefining how today's growing businesses build their internal IT systems, by offering companies the chance to utilize Fortune 500 business applications at a fraction of the traditional cost. We are excited about Corio's business strength and our role as Corio's preferred applications infrastructure provider."

As a leading ASP, Corio's expertise is providing business applications for high-growth companies, delivering best-of-class tools for managing rapid growth and change in business processes. Corio provides applications from vendors like PeopleSoft and Siebel, for enterprise resource planning, human resources, logistics, manufacturing and distribution, as well as sales force automation and customer service. These network-based applications relieve the customer of purchasing hardware and software, finding technical staff, and the continual cycle of hardware upgrades. Instead customers gain access to a fully managed solution, alleviating the need to expend time and capital on an internally implemented and maintained business resource application.

"Concentric has worked with us in length to ensure that our network and data center infrastructure it top-notch," said George Kadifa, CEO of Corio. "We are pleased that Concentric is investing in our company and joins in our commitment to the hosted application business model."

Concentric Network Corporation provides complete, easy-to-use Internet business solutions for small- to medium-sized companies and customized Virtual Private Network and data center services for larger organizations. Concentric's portfolio of services for small- to medium-sized companies includes high-speed DSL access, Web hosting and e-commerce. For larger enterprises, the company offers dedicated Web hosting and data center services.

Concentric is the first application infrastructure provider, offering a suite of infrastructure services that enable application service providers to deliver applications and Web-based services over the Internet or a VPN. Concentric's VPN solutions enable an organization to securely and reliably communicate with its offices, mobile sales force, business partners, vendors and customers. Concentric's services rely on a high-performance, ATM-based network that covers North America, and through various partnerships, reaches internationally. Concentric also operates state-of-the-art hosting centers at strategic locations across the U.S. All Concentric services are backed by 24 hour/7 days a week customer support, and many are backed by strong service level agreements.

The company has received Most Innovative ISP two-years in a row from Inter@ctive Week, and recently received two Well-Connected Awards from Network Computing for Most Innovative Service Provider of the Year and for Best Enterprise Internet Service Provider for ConcentricHost. Deloitte & Touche recently ranked Concentric the 6th fastest growing technology company in Silicon Valley, as part of their Fast 50 Program. The company consistently receives top ratings by Inverse Network Technology, an independent research firm that grades the performance of network service providers each month. Traded on Nasdaq under the symbol "CNCX," Concentric Network is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with operations offices in Southern California, Chicago, Il., St. Louis, Mo., and Saginaw, Mich., along with sales and channel support across the U.S. For more information, access the company's Web site at http://www.concentric.net or contact Public Relations at publicrelations@concentric.com.

Concentric has reached an agreement to acquire Internet Technology Group plc, a leading provider of Internet access and hosting for businesses in the UK. The acquisition is subject to Internet Technology Group shareholder, court and regulatory approvals and is currently expected to close in the fourth quarter of 1999.