From: Terry Dean (tdean@library.berkeley.edu)
Date: Mon Jan 06 2003 - 16:57:08 PST
Date: Mon, 6 Jan 2003 16:57:08 -0800 (PST) From: Terry Dean <tdean@library.berkeley.edu> Subject: Divine/Faxon Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.4.10.10301061650460.422114-100000@library.berkeley.edu>
Did anyone else notice this message from Divine/Faxon? Terry
RoweCom, Inc. ("RoweCom" or the "Company"), doing business as Faxon or
Divine Information Services, announced today [Dec. 20, 2002] that it is
currently
experiencing financial difficulties. Due to financial constraints, RoweCom
has not been able to place or make payments for the substantial majority of
its customer orders for 2003 subscriptions.
RoweCom has been advised recently by its parent company, divine inc.
("divine"), that divine has recently decided to no longer support the
subscription aggregation business. Without the support of divine, RoweCom
has been forced to explore strategic alternatives that may ultimately
include the sale or shutdown of the business. RoweCom will continue limited
operations during this exploration period. Any funds received prospectively
for subscriptions will be maintained in a segregated escrow account pending
transmittal to the applicable publisher.
Management has recently met with three leading publishers that fulfill its
subscription orders and has been working with divine in an attempt to
obtain a satisfactory resolution to RoweCom's current financial problems.
The three publishers (Elsevier, John Wiley and Blackwell), as a significant
accommodation to this process, have agreed to continue to distribute
journals through January 2003 to RoweCom's customers. We will be asking all
of our other publishers to do the same. Without the satisfactory placement
of orders and related payments, there can be no assurance that other
publishers will distribute journals or that any journals will be
distributed by any publisher after January 2003.
RoweCom understands that many of its customers are concerned about the
status of their subscription orders. In that regard, an ad hoc committee
(the "Informal Committee") was formed in order to, among other things,
perform investigations and analyses of the operations and financial
condition of RoweCom and its parent corporation, divine, initiate
negotiations with RoweCom and divine, and to take such other actions that
the Informal Committee may determine are in the best interests of its
constituency.
The initial members of the Informal Committee include a major research
library as well as Blackwell, Elsevier, and Wiley. Going forward, Informal
Committee membership is open to both publishers and libraries that have (or
that have had) a business relationship with RoweCom. Therefore, other
libraries and publishers interested in acquiring information about or
joining the Informal Committee are invited to contact the Informal
Committee at the following email address: adhoccommittee@nyc.rr.com.
RoweCom asks for the patience of its customers during the next couple of
weeks and will provide you with an update as to status of the process no
later than January 8th, 2003. If during the meantime, you have not received
a publication that you have ordered, please contact your customer service
representative at (800) 769-3266.
Thank you for consideration and understanding during this most difficult
period.
RoweCom is a subsidiary of divine, inc. (NASDAQ: DVN). This press release
contains certain forward-looking statements with respect to the Company
that are subject to risks and uncertainties that include, but are not
limited to, those identified in the Company's press releases. For example,
such risks and uncertainties include the ability of the Company to
implement a restructuring plan to maximize the amount realized for
stakeholders; continued cooperation of the Company's leading publishers;
the availability of strategic alternatives for the Company; the adequacy
and availability of cash to operates its business; the Company's ability to
maintain sufficient cash flow and liquidity; the availability and
accessibility of financing at affordable levels for the Company and the
ability of the Company to tightly control expenditures.
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