Emergis and Pro-Suite sign integration agreement to offer Assyst Real Estate
to B.C. notaries
Montréal, April 16, 2007 - Emergis Inc. (TSX:
EME) today announced an agreement with
Pro-Suite Software Ltd. of Vancouver whereby Emergis' Assyst Real Estate
solution for completing mortgage transactions will be integrated with Pro-Suite's
electronic conveyancing software application. The three-year agreement will
make Emergis' mortgage document processing and registration solution available
to all notaries using Pro-Suite by the fall of 2007. The Pro-Suite software
is owned and maintained by The Society of Notaries Public of B.C.
"The agreement with Pro-Suite is in line with Emergis' strategy
of developing partnerships with software vendors and legal associations to accelerate
the adoption of Assyst Real Estate in each province as the solution is launched
across Canada," said Keith Nugara, Senior Vice-President, Financial Solutions
Group at Emergis. "Our solution will help notaries in B.C. become more
efficient by streamlining processes and reducing paperwork."
Assyst Real Estate is a bilingual mortgage solution designed to facilitate
the instructing, reporting and closing of mortgage loans for lenders and the
legal community. With it, lenders can send mortgage instructions electronically
to notaries, lawyers and their staff in real time. In turn, these professionals
can complete mortgage transactions from end to end online, in a more secure
and confidential manner. Assyst Real Estate speeds up the processing of transactions,
reduces paperwork, cuts back on costs, and reduces the risk of clerical error.
"Pro-Suite is very pleased to partner with Emergis to offer a full range
of electronic services that meet the needs of notaries in British Columbia,"
said Wayne Braid, Secretary and Executive Officer of The Society of Notaries
Public of B.C. "By integrating our technologies, we will offer a more
complete solution to conveyancing practitioners that will streamline all aspects
of mortgage transactions, from document preparation to reporting."
In 2002, Emergis launched its mortgage solution in Québec and has since
seen adoption escalate to the point where more than 80% of real estate notaries
in Québec are using it today. More recently, the largest residential
mortgage lender in Canada chose Assyst Real Estate as its preferred electronic
solution for completing residential mortgage transactions with real estate notaries
and lawyers across the country, thus launching the national roll-out of the
solution.
About Pro-Suite
Pro-Suite manages the technical side of conveyancing transactions and communicates
with the production servers that house conveyancing data for the Province of
British Columbia. Through a standard Internet connection anywhere in the world,
notaries can access Pro-Suite's software to generate and maintain all
the documents needed for a conveyance—in both Microsoft Word and Adobe
Acrobat.
About Emergis
Emergis is an IT leader in Canada that focuses on the health and financial services
sectors. It develops and manages solutions that automate interactions and the
secure exchange of information to increase the process efficiency and quality
of service of its customers. Emergis has expertise in electronic health-related
claims processing, health record systems, pharmacy management solutions, cash
management and loan document processing and registration. In Canada, Emergis
delivers solutions to the main insurance companies, top financial institutions,
government agencies, hospitals, large corporations, real estate lawyers and
notaries and 2,900 pharmacies. Its electronic health record solutions are also
delivered in the U.S. and Australia. The Company's shares (TSX: EME) are included
in the S&P/TSX Composite Index.
Certain information in this news release, in various filings with Canadian
regulators, in reports to shareholders and in other communications, is forward-looking
within the meaning of certain securi¬ties laws, and is subject to important
risks, uncertainties and assumptions. This forward-looking information includes,
among others, information with respect to the Company's objectives and
the strategies to achieve those objectives, as well as information with respect
to the Company's beliefs, plans, expectations, anticipations, estimates
and intentions. The words "may", "could", "should",
"would", "suspect", "outlook", "believe",
"anticipate", "estimate", "expect", "intend",
"plan", "target" and similar words and expressions are
used to identify forward-looking information. The forward-looking information
in this news release describes the Company's expectations as of April
16, 2007.
The results or events predicted in such forward-looking information may differ
materially from actual results or events. Material factors which could cause
actual results or events to differ materially from a conclusion, forecast or
projection in such forward-looking information include, among others: general
economic factors, adverse industry events, the adoption rate of the Company's
solutions by customers and by related electronic trading communities, its ability
to deliver development and implementation projects in a timely manner, the non-renewal
of major contracts which expire in the near term, complexities and timing of
signing large customer contracts, customers developing internally the capability
to perform the services which the Company performs on their behalf, its response
to its industry's rapid pace of change, the limited time to capitalize
on market opportunities, competition, pricing pressures, fluctuations in its
operating results, its ability to make and integrate acquisitions, failures
or material changes in its strategic relationships, exposure under contract
indemnities, defects in software or failures in the processing of transactions,
security and privacy breaches, its ability to attract and retain key personnel,
its ability to protect its intellectual property, intellectual property infringement
claims, and industry and government regulation.
Emergis cautions that the foregoing list of material factors is not exhaustive.
When relying on the Company's forward-looking information to make decisions,
investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other
uncertainties and potential events. In making the forward-looking information
contained in this news release, the Company does not assume any significant
acquisitions, dispositions or one-time items. It does assume, however, the renewal
of certain customer contracts. Every year, Emergis has major customer contracts
that it needs to renew. One of these represents slightly more than 10% of its
annual revenue. In addition, the Company also assumes the signature of contracts
in new markets in the public health sector. In this regard, Emergis is pursuing
large opportunities that present a very long and complex sales cycle, which
substantially affect the Company's forecasting abilities. The Company
has made certain assumptions regarding the timing of the realization of these
opportunities which it thinks is reasonable but which may not be achieved. Furthermore,
the pursuit of these larger opportunities does not ensure a linear progression
of the Company's revenue and earnings, since they may involve significant
up-front fees followed by reduced ongoing payments. The Company has assumed
a certain progression, which may not be realized. It has also assumed that the
material factors referred to in the previous paragraph will not result in such
forward-looking information to differ materially from actual results or events.
However, the list of these factors is not exhaustive and is subject to change
and there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual
outcome of such items or factors. For additional information with respect to
certain of these and other factors, refer to the risks and uncertainties section
of the Company's 2006 MD&A and to its 2006 Annual Information Form
(risks and uncertainties) filed with Canadian regulators.
THE FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS NEWS RELEASE REPRESENTS THE
EXPECTATIONS OF EMERGIS AS OF APRIL 16, 2007 AND, ACCORDINGLY, IS SUBJECT TO
CHANGE AFTER SUCH DATE. HOWEVER, EMERGIS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY INTENTION OR
OBLIGATION TO UPDATE OR REVISE ANY FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION, WHETHER AS A
RESULT OF NEW INFORMATION, FUTURE EVENTS OR OTHERWISE, EXCEPT AS REQUIRED BY
APPLICABLE LAW.