HG TO MERGE FASTECH, GELCO UNITS

SAN FRANCISCO -- HG Holdings here said it will merge the products and operations of two of its business units, Fastech Inc. and Gelco Information Network.

FastTrack brand. It currently supports about 17,000 users in 10 countries.

Gelco, Eden Prairie, Minn., is a supplier of trade payment and expense management services to major corporations. Its best-known service among brand marketers is probably TIPS, a trade promotion management system. It also markets ExpenseLink, a travel expense reimbursement and management system. The consolidated company will bring to market what it called, "the first and only business solution to combine sales force automation with promotional and travel expense management." Parent company HG Holdings is a multinational firm specializing in products and services for mobile employees.

"During 1996, Gelco and Fastech will develop a new class of systems to handle the entire consumer goods sales and promotion process," said Robert Karrick, president and chief executive officer of Gelco. His company, which clears approximately $10 billion in business transactions annually on behalf of 1,700 North American companies, will introduce client/server versions of its expense management systems.

Richard Hirsh, president and CEO of Fastech, added that the combined business will focus on information and payment solutions ranging from personal computer-based systems for brokers to turnkey services for large manufacturers. "More and more of our customers are asking us to help them take a global approach to sales force automation," he said.