Commerce One Inks Global B2B Deals
By Cindy Christ

Business-to-business service provider Commerce One unveiled plans Wednesday to launch electronic trade exchanges in China and in partnership with AT&T and British Telecom.

Trade exchanges are online marketplaces for narrow business sectors that link buyers and sellers of industrial goods.

Commerce One said its partners in Mainland China and Hong Kong stand ready to commit up to $40 million to develop a B2B portal, which will target the aviation, automotive, building materials, computer, telecommunications, hotel, healthcare, retail and shipping industries.

The seven companies, which have an approximate trading volume of about 20 percent of Hong Kong's gross domestic product, include Beijing Enterprises, i-CABLE Ventures, Jardine Internet, New World China Enterprises Projects, SUNeVision, Swire Net Ventures and WI Harper Group.

Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Commerce One has helped launch 30 trading portals worldwide as part of its Global Trading Web and is helping General Motors and Royal Dutch/Shell group operate their own trade exchanges for the auto and energy industries.

"By forming this joint venture we are ensuring that both suppliers and sellers in the Greater China region are able to fully exploit the unparalleled trading opportunities presented by the Global Trading Web", said Commerce One chairman and CEO Mark Hoffman.

The joint venture company also will recruit other Asian business partners to expand the portal's range of industries, including petrochemicals and finance, and seek buyers and sellers outside the partners' supply chains.

Shares in Commerce One were lower Wednesday, closing down $19.25, or 8.6 percent, at $206 amid a tech sell-off on the Nasdaq.

Separately, AT&T (T) and British Telecommunications (BTY) said Wednesday they're teaming up with Commerce One to create a business portal called Concert to help their customers do business online.

"We believe this agreement will open up the world of e- commerce to Concert's customers while attracting key suppliers and buyers to the portal", Hoffman said in a news release.

The company also announced Wednesday that Sasol, South Africa's largest producer of synthetic fuels and chemical products, chose Commerce One's BuySite software to automate its purchasing functions.

Sasol said that the electronic procurement service would be up and running by second quarter 2000 and that Commerce One also would help it market products over the Internet.

Shares of Commerce One are set to split 2-for-1 April 19 for stockholders of record on March 24.

After the split, the company will have about 154.8 million shares outstanding.

Market analysts estimate that business-to-business electronic commerce transactions will be worth nearly $3 trillion by 2003 as businesses worldwide move their supply chains to the Internet.