Merrill Lynch to Take Minority Equity Stake in Level 8
Level 8 Systems, a global provider of high performance eBusiness integration software, and Merrill Lynch have agreed to form a strategic alliance to deliver eBusiness integration solutions for global 2000 companies.
Under the terms of the agreement Merrill Lynch will grant Level 8 exclusive worldwide marketing, sales and development rights to Cicero, a comprehensive integrated desktop computer environment developed by Merrill Lynch and used by more than 30,000 Merrill Lynch professionals worldwide. Level 8 will market Cicero, as part of the Geneva eBusiness integration product line. Merrill Lynch will receive an equity stake in Level 8 Systems in the form of one million shares of common stock. The common stock represents approximately seven percent of the total outstanding shares of Level 8 Systems common stock. In addition, Merrill Lynch will have a seat on the Level 8 Board of Directors. The agreement is subject to certain conditions, including the receipt of required regulatory approvals.
Level 8 plans to extend the Cicero, technology to a multi-platform environment that works with existing Level 8 eBusiness integration products. The result will be a highly scalable and distributed eBusiness infrastructure. The new product will facilitate the access and integration of information at the desktop and seamlessly automate business processes among knowledge workers, across multiple applications, networks and platforms. The current release of Cicero, is available immediately from Level 8.
Level 8 and Merrill Lynch will continue to collaborate on the development of additional Level 8 software products for eBusiness integration. Level 8 will provide a robust "plug-and-play" enterprise eBusiness infrastructure that will allow applications to seamlessly share information quickly and easily across multiple platforms, communications protocols and networks.
For more information, visit www.level8.com, or www.ml.com.