Partnership to Deliver eProcurement Solutions to Government and Educational Institutions

LONG BEACH, Calif., September 18, 2002 — AcquireX and PlanetBids announced today a strategic partnership whereby customers from both companies will have access to the suite of eProcurement products offered by each company. AcquireX delivers to its customers a hosted web based electronic-procurement system while PlanetBids offers an electronic-bid and vendor management system.

The AcquireX eProcurement system facilitates existing supplier contracts that are accessed throughout an organization by employees empowered to place orders, while the PlanetBids system helps to establish those vendor relationships and is primarily used by the purchasing department personnel.

This partnership will benefit both AcquireX and PlanetBids clients by offering each a new application that will help them drive continuous process improvements by replacing today's manual or semi-automated processes with user friendly, Web-based technology. This partnership will also allow the two companies to combine efforts with new customers who desire a procurement solution that involves both a point-and-click requisitioning system as well as a bidding and vendor management system. Separate or combined, AcquireX and PlanetBids' implementation and process improvement expertise offer clients a quick payback and proven applications to continually improve the purchasing process.

According to Jack Allewaert, President and CEO of AcquireX, "This alliance will greatly benefit our customers and provide them with a complete suite of eProcurement products. Customers will be able to use PlanetBids product BidsOnline™, in those cases where legal requirements require that purchases be subject to a bid process."

PlanetBids President and CEO, Alan Zavian, states, "We are very exited that both PlanetBids and AcquireX are now able to provide an expanded and thus complete suite of e-procurement solutions to all customers."

About AcquireX
AcquireX, an electronic-procurement application provider, improves customer's bottom line through redefining how goods and services are purchased. AcquireX implements, administers and maintains for customers a system that significantly reduces the administrative costs associated with processing a purchase order while reducing the money spent by controlling which commodities and services are available for purchase by driving orders through pre-negotiated agreements. AcquireX customers access existing supplier contracts alongside consortium pricing agreements that AcquireX has negotiated with both wholesalers and manufacturers of office and technology products, resulting in immediate cost comparison and savings. Designed to be flexible and user-friendly, AcquireX meets the differing needs of customers throughout the country. For additional information about AcquireX visit www.acquirex.com.

About PlanetBids
Planetbids helps public agencies reach out to their vendors more efficiently by providing an easy to use, entirely customizable, fully hosted, web based, vendor and bid management system called BidsOnline™. The system enables multiple departments such as Purchasing, Materials/Facilities Management, and Public Works, to directly notify their vendors of RFP's, RFQ's, and bid requests. While creating a private network between buyers and vendors, BidsOnline™ also allows vendors to register online, search for all requests, obtain bidding documents, securely submit bids electronically and more. For more information please visit www.planetbids.com.