Area Firm Buying NC Call-Center Group to Provide Services for Electronic Retailers

ORLANDO-Although the color of its bottom line for the past two years has been red, Paladyne Corp. of suburban Lake Mary, FL is making an acquisition move to improve its profit-and-loss sheet. The 25-employee firm is buying E-Commerce Support Centers Inc. of Jacksonville, NC in a cash-and-stock deal. The transaction is scheduled to close this quarter.

Paladyne will be paying E-Commerce’s eight owners a total $5 million in several annual cash instalments and transferring 4.1 million shares of preferred stock that will be convertible later into 8.2 million shares of common. E-Commerce shareholders are also receiving warrants allowing them to buy 4.5 million shares of Paladyne.

Paladyne lost $28,151 on revenue of $5.5 million in fiscal 2000, an improvement over a loss of $1.4 million on sales of $4.4 million in fiscal 1999. The company’s common shares are trading at 94 cents on the Over the Counter Bulletin Board.