Consumer First™ Completes Buyout With Management

The Consumer First™ Company completes buyout talks with Memphis Entrepreneur Investor. The Internet IT, Development, Marketing, & Distribution firm now under full control of Founder/CEO. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) January 21, 2008 - Memphis, TN - Consumer First™ has been sold. The deal is final. After years of speculation regarding direction and investor participation, Founder/CEO Roy E. "Woody" Degan III, of Memphis, Tennessee, has secured full and complete control of the Consumer First ™ company and it's assets.

Consumer First was begun in 2000 as a network marketed loyalty card company. In short, the product was to turn every Visa/MC into a loyalty card at no cost to the user, with absolutely no adverse affect on the end consumer's benefits or usage. Major investors from across the United States and abroad, as well as the industry's top marketers and advisors, eagerly joined the new 'referral economy' being created by the product. Degan was instrumental in the concept, design, and development from "before 1999, from the cutting edge technologies incorporated into the card to the point-of-sale ACH processes, and even in the medial format itself." (Note: A Florida company illegally used the Consumer First name while executing a credit card scheme. The legitimate Consumer First quickly engaged the company, forcing them to cease and desist. That Florida company was subsequently investigated and criminal charges filed.)

"The Consumer First company met with substantial obstacles in the financial market," according to Degan. "The merchant acquisition phase of the project was greatly hindered by allowing Marketers, not professional staff, to execute the financial paperwork for those merchants. In short: 'Do you really want to trust your banking information to someone off of the street?' The resounding answer was 'No.' By that time, after the big investors and their professional management teams took over, I had little say in company policies and/or operations. Their management style was simply atrocious, to be kind. By some accounts, that Consumer First had nearly two million signatories. Six months later, they were selling it for pennies on the dollar, and trying to revive it." But Degan had paperwork. Paperwork that said he owned 1/2 of the company...and ALL of the Consumer First name. "At that point," he states,"I let the sale transpire, except for the name. That was the only value left."

In the interim, the United States Patent and Trademark Office had granted Degan's Trademark to the CONSUMER FIRST name. An Internet distributorship, featuring wholesale and retail products, consistent with the Trademark classification, put Degan - the brainchild of the revived entity - once again in the driver's seat. With six investors, he moved forward building one of the largest city-targeted entertainment-related Top Level Domain (TLD) name catalogues, and created an Internet services division focusing on clients in the entertainment field. Today Degan's clients include some of the most notable artists and record companies in the music industry.

On January 19, 2008 Degan exercised his options, taking the investor group out of the deal, thereby taking complete control of the Consumer First entity. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but sources intimate the deal was worth approximately $1.2 million dollars. Degan states that he has "no intent to sell the company. This is just time coming back around again...only one part of the business plan. I am thankful to the partners who helped me get to this juncture, and am optimistic about the direction and speed at which we are progressing. It's an exciting day for all of us."

http://www.consumerfirst.com

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