Deloitte goes dot-com with partial Eclipse

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu has joined the dot-com race taking a 20 per cent capital stake in local e-content provider Eclipse Group.

Deloitte and Eclipse have also signed an agreement to develop e-commerce products although neither company would reveal the value of the transaction.

"Eclipse has the expertise to enable us both to extend our ability to design, build and implement effective business-to-business e-commerce solutions," said Deloitte's CEO, Lynn Odland.

Deloitte will use Eclipse's component-based "out of the box" products for back-end transaction processing. The front-end communications interface will be customised for each client.

Eclipse's CEO, Des Whyte, said the partnership and capital injection would allow enormous growth. Both Eclipse and Deloitte are hoping the arrangement will provide an opportunity to expand operations outside of Australia.

"It will enable us to take the next step in our plan to be the leading provider of Internet and multimedia solutions for Australian business," Whyte said.

Eclipse's current clients include OzEmail, ANZ Online, Mitre 10 and Westpac PPS.