FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Electronic
Clearing House, Inc. (ECHO)
to Adjourn Special Meeting to March 27, 2007
CAMARILLO,
Calif., March 6, 2007
-
Electronic Clearing House, Inc. (Nasdaq: ECHO),
a
leading provider of electronic payment and transaction processing services,
will
adjourn its special stockholders meeting scheduled for March 7th
relating
to its proposed acquisition by Intuit Inc. The meeting will reconvene at
9 a.m.
Pacific time on March 27, 2007.
The
adjournment will allow ECHO
more
time to satisfy outstanding closing conditions and to complete its performance
of pre-closing covenants. ECHO
expects
that the acquisition will close one to two days after the reconvened meeting.
At
that time, ECHO
will
become a wholly owned subsidiary of Intuit, and ECHO’s
stock
will cease trading. Intuit supports the adjournment of the special
meeting.
“Both
companies have worked diligently to plan a smooth integration of ECHO’s
operations and employees into Intuit’s payments business following completion of
the acquisition,” said Chuck Harris, ECHO’s
President and Chief Operating Officer. “The extra time will allow us to continue
these planning efforts and to satisfy our outstanding closing conditions.”
About
Electronic Clearing House, Inc. (ECHO)
ECHO
(www.echo-inc.com)
provides a complete solution to the payment processing needs of merchants,
banks, technology companies and collection agencies. ECHO's
services include debit and credit card processing, check guarantee, check
verification, check conversion, check re-presentment, and check collection.
Forward-looking
Statements:
This
news release includes forward-looking statements, including those regarding
the
proposed acquisition of ECHO
by
Intuit and the anticipated closing of the transaction. These statements are
based on certain assumptions and reflect our current expectations. Statements
including words such as "anticipate," "propose," "estimate," "believe" or
"expect" and statements in the future tense are forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties
and other important factors that could cause the actual results, performance
or
achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance, or
achievements discussed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Some
of
the factors that could cause results to differ materially from the expectations
expressed in these forward-looking statements include the following: the
risk
that the proposed transaction may not be completed in a timely manner, if
at
all, including, without limitation, if certain closing conditions of
ECHO
cannot be satisfied, and other risks that may impact ECHO's
business, some of which are discussed in ECHO's
reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"),
including, without limitation, ECHO's
Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2006 and ECHO’s
Definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A filed with respect to the proposed
transaction. Copies of ECHO's
filings with the SEC can be obtained on its website, or at the SEC's website
at
www.sec.gov. Any forward-looking statement is qualified by reference to these
risks, uncertainties and factors. If any of these risks or uncertainties
materializes, the acquisition may not be consummated. Forward-looking statements
speak only as of the date of the document in which they are made. These risks,
uncertainties and factors are not exclusive, and ECHO
undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking
statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date
of
this release.
Additional
Information About The Proposed Transaction And Where You Can Find
It
In
connection with the proposed transaction, ECHO
has
filed a definitive proxy statement and other relevant materials with the
Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Before
making any voting decision with respect to the proposed transaction,
stockholders of ECHO
are urged to read the proxy statement and the other relevant materials filed
by
ECHO
with the SEC because they contain important information about the proposed
transaction.
The
proxy statement and other relevant materials, and any other documents filed
by
ECHO
with
the SEC, may be obtained free of charge at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
In
addition, stockholders of ECHO
may
obtain free copies of the documents filed with the SEC by contacting
ECHO
Investor Relations at 800-262-3246 ext. 8533, or by email to corp@echo-inc.com.
You may also read and copy any reports, statements and other information
filed
by ECHO
with
the SEC at the SEC public reference room at 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580,
Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 or visit the
SEC's
website for further information on its public reference room.
ECHO
and
its executive officers and directors may be deemed to be participants in
the
solicitation of proxies from ECHO
stockholders in favor of the proposed transaction. Certain executive officers
and directors of ECHO
have
interests in the transaction that may differ from the interests of stockholders
generally. These interests are described in the definitive proxy
statement.
In
addition, Intuit and its executive officers and directors may be deemed to
be
participants in the solicitation of proxies from ECHO's
stockholders in favor of the approval of the proposed transaction. Information
concerning Intuit's directors and executive officers is set forth in Intuit's
proxy statement for its 2006 annual meeting of stockholders, which was filed
with the SEC on November 3, 2006, and annual report on Form 10-K filed with
the
SEC on September15, 2006. These documents are available free of charge at
the
SEC's web site atwww.sec.gov or by going to Intuit’s Investor Relations Website
at http://www.intuit.com/about_intuit/investors.
Contact: |
|
|
Electronic Clearing House |
|
Moira Conlon |
Donna Rehman, Corporate Secretary |
|
The Abernathy MacGregor Group,
Inc. |
(800) 262-3246, ext. 8533 |
|
213-630-6550 |
E-MAIL: corp@echo-inc.com |
|
E-MAIL: MHC@abmac.com |
www.echo-inc.com |
|
|
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