EUnet International & Goya merger

Goya merges with EUnet International to become the 12th wholly-owned subsidiary of Europe's leading value-added Internet service provider

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands (March 11, 1997) - EUnet International today announced the next step in its aggressive global expansion program with the merger of Goya, Spain's oldest Internet provider, and the preferred Internet service provider for the SEMA group of companies in Spain. Since EUnet International began implementing its acquisition strategy in April 1996, the number of wholly-owned subsidiaries has increased to 12.

Goya, which will now act as EUnet Spain, has been affiliated to EUnet since many years: Goya was Spain's first commercial Internet service provider and has built a strong reputation as a leader in the deployment of new Internet applications in the Spanish market. This is due primarily to the organisation's strong consultancy presence and its skills as a system integrator. The company has achieved a number of "firsts": first Internet service, first commercial web service, and first implementation of electronic commerce transactions.
Goya focuses its connectivity activities in the small and medium enterprise segments as well as large accounts, with some participation in the SOHO segment. Systems integration activities and outsourcing activities are focused on large accounts. In the past few years, Goya has been building a reputation for competency in key areas such as electronic banking and electronic commerce, including the deployment of a security architecture for on-line banking, and a complete architecture of security based on cryptographic techniques for on-line shopping.

In 1996, Goya achieved sales of 167 million PTAs, up from a 100 million in 1995, and employs 21 Internet professionals.

According to Goya's Managing Director Juan Antonio Esteban, "Goya was instrumental in the development of the Internet business in Spain and has lead the market through a continuous series of business innovations. As more and more companies are putting their business on the Internet, we believe that through this merger Goya, i.e., EUnet Spain, is now in the best position to further expand its leading position. As it does, it is natural that customers think of us first. "

Thanks to a strategic agreement signed with SEMA, EUnet Spain is the preferred Internet service provider for the SEMA group of companies in Spain, and has the designation of preferred supplier status. By combining EUnet Spain's Internet connectivity solutions with SEMA's engineering solutions, the two companies are providing turn-key communications solutions for their customers. The close working relationship also extends to projects with SEMA Group UK and SEMA Group France. For example, with SEMA UK, EUnet Spain is part of a European Union-financed project called TARDIS for the provision of access to the Information Society for the less-advantaged.

Commenting on the merger, Jacobo Israel, SEMA Spain MD said, "In view of EUnet International's role as the leading European player and in the interest of the further development of Goya in the rapidly evolving Internet market, we have followed the major interest of the company, keeping a tight relationship with Goya for the areas of collaboration of mutual interest".

According to Managing Director of EUnet International, Wim Vink, "Goya is a major player in a very interesting market, while their alliance with SEMA Group puts us in an even stronger position for the development of our systems integration and value-added services business. We're very excited about being able to work with such a high-calibre group of professionals that shares the same global approach and the same commitment to our customers. Through ventures such as this one, we expect to continue to increase our pan-European market share and strengthen our market position."

Established in 1982, and the first European provider of services for business use, EUnet was instrumental in creating Europe's Internet infrastructure. Today, EUnet International provides one-stop shopping for corporate Internet access in Europe with a network of 42 countries and over 300 POPs (Points of Presence). In addition, high speed access to the United States, Japan and the rest of the world is provided by its Network Operations Centre at corporate headquarters in Amsterdam, which offers high reliability and availabilty, and provides such features as end-to-end network monitoring at 10-second intervals.

For more information contact:
Hennie Jacobs, Press Relations, EUnet International
Telephone +31 (0)70-351 24 64, E-mail: jacobs@nl.eunettravel.com

Fact Sheet

The Spanish Internet market now has 97,000 private subscribers (DataMonitor 1997).

684,000 people in Spain have access to the Internet (AIMC, Spanish equivalent of Nielssen). This figure includes universities, business, home, etc.

Goya connects more than 600 companies to the Internet, apart from hundreds of SOHO customers. There are some 300 providers in the connectivity arena, but only a handful of major players.

Goya is Secretary of the Spanish Internet Exchange Point (ESPANIX), with includes companies such as BT, GlobalOne, IBM, Medusa and Telefonica.

Services provided by EUnet Spain:

Internet Connectivity Services: EUnet Spain offers a full range of high-quality, high-reliability connectivity to the Internet:

• PersonalEUnet, a dial-up service via modem or ISDN for stand-alone computers
• DialEUnet, a dial-up service via modem or ISDN for computers interconnected by a local area network (LAN)
• InterEUnet, a fixed line service for 24h connectivity to the Internet, at speeds ranging from 64k to 512k bits/s and higher
• EunetTraveller, a service allowing mobile Internet users to connect locally across more than 26 countries

Outsourcing Services: Internet Computer Centre manages Internet solutions for a wide variety of business customers.

System Integration: EUnet Spain offers a wide range of services to integrate heterogeneous data sources, network infrastructures and electronic mail networks into standard Internet solutions.

Electronic Commerce: Through its own InterStand service, EUnet Spain offers solution for companies that want to sell goods, reservations or information on the Net.

Security Audits: EUnet Spain has experience in security techniques and provides security solutions adapted to the needs of customers such as banks, public administration, and private companies.

Reference Sites:

Banesto First European bank to interconnect credit card networks on the Net. Goya, jointly with Banesto, developed the electronic commerce solution to allow Internet users to buy on the Net. EUnet Spain maintains a strategic agreement with the bank. http://www.eunet.es/InterStandPlus

Agencia EFE Spain's number one news agency. Goya provides EFE with InterEUnet connectivity, with outsourcing services to provide on-line news services, and electronic commerce services to sell goods and information on the Net. http://www.efe.es