Perfect Commerce merges with Pantellos
DAVID HAYES

Perfect Commerce Inc., a Lee's Summit company that helps large corporations manage online purchases, is merging with one of its largest competitors. Perfect has acquired Pantellos, a Houston-based company that helps energy companies manage online purchases. The deal was approved last week and was scheduled to be announced today. The combined company will have revenues of more than $32 million in 2004, and projected sales of $40 million in 2005. The merger is an all-stock deal and no money changed hands, said Sandy Kemper, chief executive of Perfect Commerce.

Perfect Commerce issued stock to Pantellos stockholders. The company, which will have about 170 employees, will maintain the Perfect Commerce name and be based in Lee's Summit, with offices in Texas, California, Nevada and France. Both companies do roughly the same thing - help corporations make purchasing from their suppliers more efficient by getting rid of paper, moving the process online and giving access to preferred suppliers to everyone in a corporation. Kemper, who will be chief executive of the combined company, said the merger made sense. Perfect Commerce's strength, Kemper said, is bringing technology to clients to help with online procurement. Pantellos' strength is consulting with clients to use the Internet to make purchasing more efficient, Kemper said. "Our people have been better at selling. Their people have been better at growing once an account has signed on," Kemper said.

Jim Neikirk, chief executive of Pantellos, will be president of the combined company. "With Perfect Commerce's world-class technology platform, its expansive trading network and Pantellos' established community of supply chain specialists, the combined company will provide in-depth, industry-leading sourcing, event execution and business process redesign expertise," he said. Kemper and Neikirk said the merger will make Perfect Commerce the undisputed industry leader in the on-demand online procurement industry.

The deal will give Perfect Commerce 51 of the Fortune 500 companies as clients, and 190 of the Fortune 1000. It's the third sizeable merger for the former eScout.com, which became Perfect Commerce in 2003 when the two companies merged in an all-stock deal.

In 2002, eScout bought CommerceOne.net, a large online marketplace owned by Commerce One. Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy, a Pantellos client, endorsed the merger. "We expect that the blending of Perfect Commerce's technologies with Pantellos' expertise and services will support our pursuit of supply chain excellence," said James Chuber, vice president of global sourcing and logistics for Duke. Yellow Roadway, a major Perfect Commerce client, also endorsed the deal. "We see the merger as a win-win," said Donald G. Barger, senior vice president for Yellow Roadway. "The strength and stability of the company, along with its expanded breadth and depth, will benefit both suppliers and buyers."

To reach David Hayes, call (816) 234-4904 or send e-mail to dhayes@kcstar.com

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