Inktomi Acquires Impulse! Buy Network;
Adds New Building Block to Inktomi
Shopping Engine; Brings Real-World
Merchandising To The Internet
Business Wire - April 22, 1999 08:38
SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 22, 1999--Inktomi Corp.
(Nasdaq:INKT) today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to
acquire Impulse! Buy Network, the premier developer of online
merchandising software, further strengthening Inktomi's position as the
leading supplier of Internet infrastructure technologies worldwide. The
acquisition adds an important new component to the Inktomi Shopping
Engine, enabling portal sites to offer users a more compelling and intuitive
shopping experience and giving merchants the ability to create targeted
promotional programs to increase sales and build customer affinity across a
broad base of Internet users.
Inktomi will acquire 100 percent of the outstanding stock and assume all stock
options of Impulse! Buy in exchange for 900,000 shares of Inktomi common
stock. Inktomi will account for the transaction as a pooling of interests and
expects to close the acquisition by June 30, 1999, subject to approval by the
shareholders of Impulse! Buy and other customary closing conditions.
"Getting shoppers to push the 'Buy' button will require a range of robust
product promotion and merchandising tools," said David Peterschmidt,
president and chief executive officer of Inktomi Corp. "With the acquisition of
Impulse! Buy, Inktomi will enable merchants to customize, cross-market and
up-sell their products, bringing the best of real-world merchandising to the
Internet."
"Inktomi and Impulse! Buy share the same vision of building the
best-of-breed online shopping and merchandising engine in the business,"
said Mark Goldstein, president and chief executive officer of Impulse! Buy
Network. "We are excited to be joining forces with Inktomi to further enhance
our software innovation and distribution reach worldwide by leveraging
Inktomi's scalable technology, top-tier talent and proven OEM business
model."
The acquisition underscores Inktomi's commitment to be the leading provider
of Internet infrastructure software to companies worldwide. Over the last six
months, Inktomi has signed on more than 20 portal and destination sites for its
Shopping Engine, including Infoseek's GO Network, CNET and NBC's
Snap, and CNNfn, and has signed over 350 merchants. More than two
million products, ranging from computer hardware to books to flowers, are
offered today in the Inktomi Shopping Engine. The combination of Impulse!
Buy with the Inktomi Shopping Engine offers merchants the ability to create
incentive programs such as discount specials, point-of-purchase displays and
sweepstakes that can be distributed to Inktomi's portal customers, providing
Internet users with greater variety and choice in purchasing products. Inktomi
plans to fully integrate the Impulse! Buy software into its Shopping Engine by
the summer.
The Impulse! Buy software is used by more than 80 merchants including
Lands' End, K-Tel and WalMart and is currently present on many leading
sites including America Online, AT&T WorldNet, Infoseek's GO Network
and MSN. Impulse! Buy Network will operate under the Inktomi name with
employees of the company joining Inktomi.
About Impulse! Buy Network
Impulse! Buy, based in Burlingame, Calif., was created to combine the rapid
growth of online shopping and e-commerce with the popularity of impulse
buying among consumers who seek quality merchandise. Its network consists
of more than 80 participating merchants and numerous web sites. Founded in
1997, the company is backed by Yahoo!, SOFTBANK Technology Ventures
and private investors. For more information visit www.impulsebuy.com.
About Inktomi
Based in San Mateo, Calif., Inktomi (pronounced INK-tuh-me), develops and
markets scalable software designed for the world's largest Internet
infrastructure and media companies. Inktomi's products include the world's
largest search engines, online comparison shopping solutions, and
carrier-class network cache software. Inktomi works with leading companies
including America Online, @Home Network, CNET, CNN, GeoCities, Intel,
RealNetworks, Sun Microsystems, and Yahoo!. The company has offices in
North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit
www.inktomi.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainities. Actual results may differ materially from the results predicted
and reported results should not be considered an indication of future
performance. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others,
Inktomi's limited operating history, history of losses and expectation of future
losses, risks associated with the Inktomi Shopping Engine, uncertainty of
market acceptance, need to attract and retain portal customers and merchants,
risks associated with acquisitions and substantial competition. For factors that
could affect the business and financial results see "Factors Affecting Operating
Results" contained in Inktomi's Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended
December 31, 1998 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on
February 12, 1999.
Note to Editors: Inktomi, Scaling the Internet and the tri-colored cube logo are
all trademarks of Inktomi Corporation. All other company and product names
referenced herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective holders.
CONTACT: Inktomi Corp.
Shernaz Daver, 650/653-2859 (Investor)
sdaver@inktomi.com
Kevin Brown, 650/653-2825 (Media)
kevin@inktomi.com
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