"It happens to be that all of this stuff is happening at the same time. All of the things going on with the other countries and the economy," Naylor said. "It's not like we chose to have a recession. It's not a political statement at all."

While Naylor hinted that the election of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., as the next U.S. president was partially involved in Wednesday's protest, store owner Darrell Chambers denied such claims.

"It's just a thing where we are just upset with the economy in general," Chambers told the newspaper, "not because of one particular politician.''

www.upi.com

About 75,000 cans of the fabric protector were sold at Wal-Mart, Ace Hardware, and other stores from January 2006 through September 2008 for about $7.

The product's 11-ounce cans have a picture of a patio containing outdoor furniture and "UV Fabric Protector" and "Outdoor Spaces" on them.

Consumers were advised to stop using the product and return them to the retailer for a full refund.

Consumers can call 888-304-3769 for information.

www.upi.com

ConfirmNet offers ASP software on an SAAS (software-as-a service) basis for issuing and tracking certificates of insurance (COI). Over the years, ConfirmNet has emerged as a provider in the COI issuance industry in the United States. Before being acquired by Ebix, ConfirmNet had the second largest market share in the certificate tracking industry, in the United States. Ebix's existing BPO division, EBIXBPO has the largest market share in the certificate tracking industry, in the United States, with this acquisition strengthening its position even further. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to Ebix earnings per share ("EPS") in the near and long term future.

The deal will involve cash payments to ConfirmNet shareholders plus a number of earn-out cash payments, based on specific revenue numbers that are achieved in Q4 of 2008 and the full year of 2009. The company presently estimates the total payments due till January 2009 to be in the range of $10 to $11 million, varying based upon the fourth quarter revenue performance of ConfirmNet. Ebix intends to fund this transaction through internal sources using its own cash reserves. No Ebix shares were issued in the transaction.

Robin Raina, chairman, president and CEO of Ebix, said, "The acquisition of ConfirmNet is another step towards establishing Ebix as a leading BPO provider in the insurance industry. With a customer base spanning hundreds of customers - ranging from top names like AON, Marsh, Arthur J. Gallagher, Wells Fargo, Wachovia Insurance Services, CB Richard Ellis, Motorola, Hewitt Associates, Ace Hardware, Kroger, Centex Homes, Hilton Hotels, etc., ConfirmNet brings a top tier customer base to Ebix.

"While Ebix has a leading presence in the insurance certificates tracking industry, we did not address the certificate issuance side of insurance. ConfirmNet brings in a leadership position on the insurance certificate issuance side along with the second largest market share on the tracking side of insurance certificates. The purchase of ConfirmNet builds on our strategy of growth through recurring revenues derived from providing back-end services related to the insurance sector. This acquisition is a perfect complement to our India development and BPO services infrastructure, as India will help us grow BPO revenues while bringing costs down.

"We are especially pleased that the acquisition provides us with a cohesive management team and an employee base that has delivered consistently and brings additional specialized insurance BPO expertise to Ebix. We intend to immediately integrate ConfirmNet into our existing Ebix BPO division."

((Comments on this story may be sent to newsdesk@closeupmedia.com))

((Distributed via M2 Communications Ltd - http://www.m2.com))

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-- October 24, 2008 -- December 31, 2008

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