CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 21, 2002--Covista Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ symbol: CVST - news) announced today that on February 20, 2002 its Board of Directors had approved the private sale of additional common stock of up to $12,500,000.
The investment will include a cash infusion of $7,500,000 and the conversion of long-term debt of $5,000,000 to common stock. The funding for the investment is anticipated to come primarily from the current Chairman of Covista's Board and is subject to shareholder's approval at a Special Meeting, which the Company expects to convene by the end of March.
John Leach Covista's President and CEO stated that, ``this investment, coupled with the acquisition of Capsule Communications, is a demonstration of the confidence Henry Luken has in the Company's business plan for future growth and profitability.''
About Covista:
Covista is a facilities-based long distance telecommunications, Internet and data services provider with a substantial customer base in the commercial, wholesale and residential market segments. Its products and services include a broad range of voice, data and Internet solutions, including long distance and toll-free services, calling card, frame relay, Internet access, VPN, directory assistance and teleconferencing services. The wholesale division provides domestic and international termination services to carriers worldwide at competitive rates. Covista currently owns and operates switches in New York City, Newark, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Dallas, and previously has announced plans to expand to additional switch salesgroups in Las Vegas, Chicago and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Covista previously announced that it has acquired access to nation-wide telecommunications network facilities comprising 2,822,400,000 DS-0 channel miles of additional capacity. Covista operates a Network Operations Center in Little Falls, New Jersey to monitor its switched network, as well as call center and information technology facilities in Chattanooga to coordinate its various services. For information on becoming a Covista customer, please telephone (888) 426-8478 or visit the Company's website at www.covista.com.
Information relating to forward-looking statements:
This press release contains historical and forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the private securities litigation act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements such as statements of the company's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions involve risks and uncertainties. The cautionary statements made in this release should be read as being applicable to all related statements wherever they appear. Statements containing terms such as ``believes,'' ``expects,'' ``plans,'' ``projects,'' ``intends,'' ``estimates,'' ``anticipates,'' or similar terms, are considered to contain uncertainty and are forward-looking statements. The actual results could differ materially from those discussed. Factors that could contribute to such differences include: changes in market conditions and increased competition from other telecommunications and internet service providers; government regulations; the volatile and competitive environment for internet telephony; advances in competitive products or technologies that could reduce demand for services; availability of transmission facilities; management of rapid growth; customer concentration and attrition; the ability to successfully integrate acquired companies; the ability to successfully develop and bring new services to market; and other risks discussed in the company's SEC filings, including form 10-k and form 10-q, which can be accessed at the SEC web salesgroup at www.sec.gov.
Readers of this release should understand that it is not possible to predict or identify all such risk factors. Consequently, this list should not be considered a complete statement of all potential risks or uncertainties. Covista does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as is required by applicable law.
Covista Communications, Inc.
Thomas Gunning, Tel: 973/812-1100, Fax: 973/237-6414
E-mail: tgunning@covista.com