Belmin and Crown Agents launch Belmin Healthcare Ltd

Crown Agents (CA) has for some time been in discussion with Belmin Group Limited (BGL) over the future strategic direction of EROS and the other e-commerce systems offered by CAPS (Crown Agents Purchasing Services) to the UK Health market.

CAPS was set up in 1998 as a joint venture between Crown Agents and Belmin Group, as a vehicle to harness the synergies and the core competencies of the two organisations. CA's procurement and supply chain expertise were joined with BGL's public sector e-procurement software knowledge. The two competencies were ideally aligned to pursue outsourced purchasing management business, using EROS as the e-commerce tool. All Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) for the software are owned by BGL and were licensed to CAPS.

However, in the light of existing and expected market opportunities, it makes strategic, economic and business sense that the owner of the IPR , and the product specialist, owns and takes the EROS and software businesses forward.

Recognising this logic, BGL has made an offer to purchase CAPS' interests in the EROS product in the NHS market, and this has been accepted by CA. From 1st June 2005 all EROS and other software contracts currently owned by CAPS are to be transferred to a new company called BGL Healthcare Ltd ("BHL" ). BGL will have a majority shareholding in BHL, but CA will also be taking shares, and will be represented on the Board of BHL by Jeff Scott, CAPS' current MD.

The benefits to EROS customers going forward are clear:

• Direct ownership of CAPS contracts by the owner of the core product and core product competencies
  
• Direct ownership and investment by the owner of the IPR of the primary software product
  
• One strategic direction - conjoining of CAPS and BGL product, sales and marketing knowledge
  
• Enhanced ability for the new organisation to sell new BGL and VAR products as an integral part of BGL
  
• Enhanced access for CAPS customers to BGL technical expertise