FORDAQ Acquires the IHB Marketplace

FORDAQ has acquired the marketplace of IHB to create the world's largest online market for wood professionals

MUNICH (PRWEB) December 26, 2004 -- FORDAQ S.A. and IHB GmbH announce today that they have agreed that FORDAQ will take over the trading portal of IHB (www.ihb.de) with immediate effect. The aim of this transaction is to create the largest online market for wood professionals worldwide. The combined websites have approximately 18,000 members and more than 400.000 visitors on a monthly basis.

The FORDAQ and IHB trading websites will be maintained and all services will continue to be delivered as prior to the acquisition. The resources of both companies are being combined to accelerate the development of new services.

Within the next 2 years, the goal of this transaction is to create a single trading platform for the members of www.fordaq.com and www.ihb.de, giving them access to the largest online community of wood-related companies in the whole world. "Our goal is to create a single trading platform that can be used by wood professionals worldwide to do business. This is a revolutionary development for the industry", said Mr. Benoit Nieuwenhuys, Managing Director of FORDAQ.

About FORDAQ S.A. -- www.fordaq.com
FORDAQ is a network for professionals of the wood industry that brings over 8,000 registered companies worldwide in touch with each other via Internet. These companies use FORDAQ to communicate inquiries and offers for wood products, check market prices, find new client and supplier contacts and check industry news. All the information on FORDAQ is translated into 12 languages. Headquartered in Brussels (Belgium), FORDAQ was established in September 2000 by a team of experts of the wood sector and IT specialists. The company has subsidiaries in Romania and France and is represented in Italy, Croatia, Bosnia, Poland, India and China.

About IHB GmbH -- www.ihb.de
Founded in September 1996, IHB manages the largest online market for wood products in the German-speaking part of Europe. IHB also offers access to the most up-to-date news of the wood industry. More then 10,000 companies in 130 countries use IHB and its website is visited monthly by more than 300,000 visitors. The services of IHB are available in 5 languages.

For further information please contact:
FORDAQ S.A.
news@fordaq.com

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