Down today in the UK due to an article in Sunday Observer.
Below is a copy of the ESI thread for today.
Regards
Jon C
BB: Dialog & Excite Partnership Alliance Formed (N1581107)
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epic code(s) DLG
EPIC: DLG
Date: Mon Jun 7 11:07:44 1999 GMT/BST
From: Gecks
The deal has been done ! I do not know why this link was not made
public before & can only assume the participating companies wanted to
remain in the background in order to take a market position.
OK the deal with a major portal company was completed on the 28th
May for $7.2billion in stock , see text
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: For Investors:
Caroline Hughes
Excite@Home
650/298-4445 For Media:
Matt Wolfrom/Melissa Walia
Excite@Home
650/569-5195/2213
@Home Network and Excite Complete Merger
Creation of Media Network of the Next Century Excite@Home
Focus on Driving the Adoption of Broadband Services
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 28, 1999 -- @Home Network (Nasdaq: ATHM) and
Excite, Inc. today announced the companies have completed their
merger, announced in January. The newly merged company, Excite@Home,
will trade on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol "ATHM."
Tom Jermoluk is CEO and remains chairman of the board of directors.
George Bell, former CEO of Excite, has been named President of the new
company and becomes a member of the board of directors.
A Global Media Network "All Band, All Device, All the Time"
Excite@Home will redefine the Internet as a medium by combining
compelling Internet content with the powerful distribution platform of
broadband. The new company will give consumers choice in how they
access information over various communications devices such as a
pager, PC, or TV, and how they organize and personalize content. The
company will extend many of these services to the work environment,
where the percentage of high-speed Internet connectivity is highest.
These services will accelerate and lower the cost of broadband
adoption by exposing the millions of Excite narrowband users to the
benefits of a media experience on a broadband platform. The new
company remains committed to an open access environment to allow
consumers to find any Web content they want with a single click.
"The closing of this merger represents the dawn of a new Internet era
that will revolutionize the way consumers view and interact with
communication, information, and entertainment services," said Tom
Jermoluk, chairman and CEO of Excite@Home. "By offering the best
content and navigational services coupled with a robust platform and
broad distribution reach, Excite@Home will provide consumers with a
new suite of advanced interactive services full of choices and
opportunities."
"Media and distribution have historically proven to be a winning model
since the earliest days of television," said George Bell, president of
Excite@Home. "At this point in the evolution of the Internet, with
dial-up access within the reach of most US consumers, the emphasis of
growth will shift to the fast-expanding footprint of broadband. We
will give consumers the flexibility to move between services at
different speeds and devices with a consistent Excite interface.
Excite@Home will give consumers access to the information they want,
when they want it, whether they are using a PC, TV, or any other
communications device and provide it across all bands, all devices,
all the time."
Comprehensive Advertising Solutions
Excite@Home will offer advertisers a unified way to target, measure,
and report advertising on Excite narrowband and broadband content
accessed through the @Home service. The company is building one of the
largest predictive consumer databases, combining Excite's 28 million
registered users with @Home's service footprint of more than 65
million homes worldwide. The one-to-one marketing services will be
available to advertisers on narrowband, broadband, and multiple
devices.
Excite@Home has integrated virtually all business units. With almost
no duplication of function, the company is adding significantly to its
employee base to exploit new opportunities.
The merger agreement provides that Excite@Home will issue
approximately 58 million shares of At Home Corporation Series A Common
Stock in exchange for all outstanding Excite shares. In addition,
Excite@Home will assume all outstanding Excite warrants and options.
Each share of Excite Common Stock will be exchanged for 1.041902
shares of Excite@Home Common Stock, prior to adjustment for a 2-for-1
stock split of Excite@Home capital stock approved by its stockholders
on May 28, 1999. The effective date of the stock split will be June
16, 1999. The total value of the deal (based on outstanding stock) is
approximately $7.2 billion.
Excite@Home
Excite@Home (Nasdaq: ATHM) is a global media company based in Redwood
City, Calif. Through the company's narrowband portal, Excite
(www.excite.com), and broadband services, @Home and @Work, the company
uniquely offers consumers content and interactive services across both
narrowband and broadband, and advertisers highly targeted marketing
solutions across all platforms of delivery. Leveraging the high-speed,
always-on attributes of cable, Excite@Home empowers unique multimedia
applications that go beyond current Web experiences. The company will
combine the Excite brand - one of the best known names on the Internet
with 70 percent recognition among Web users - with @Home's broad
distribution a worldwide footprint resulting from its agreements
with 21 cable companies, to deliver on its vision of "All Band, All
Device, All the Time."
For more investor information about Excite@Home, please call our
stockholder services hotline at 1-888-924-9248.
Brand recognition statistics quoted are from Frank N. Magid and
Associates, Inc. (1/99).
###
Excite@Home, Excite, the logo, @Work, and @Home are trademarks of At
Home Corporation and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. All
other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective
owners.
This press release contains forward-looking information within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1933 and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to
the safe harbors created by those sections. These forward-looking
statements include statements related to: Excite@Home's ability to
redefine the Internet as a medium; Excite@Home's ability to develop
and deploy a media network for the next century that provides
consumers choice over how they access information over various
communications devices such as a pager, personal computer, or
television, and how they organize and personalize content;
Excite@Home's ability to extend many of these services to the work
environment; the affect that the services will have on lowering the
cost of broadband adoption by exposing users to the broadband
platform; Excite@Home's ability to give consumers access to the
information they want, when they want it, whether they are using a
personal computer, television, or other communications device; and
Excite@Home's ability to offer advertisers a unified way to target,
measure, and report advertising, and to build one of the largest
predictive consumer databases; and Excite@Home's ability to provide
one-to-one marketing services to advertisers on narrowband, broadband,
and multiple devices. Actual results may differ materially due to a
number of risks, including: the risks associated with integrating
Excite and @Home; numerous technological, operational and financial
challenges associated with developing and deploying the new
multiple-device services, and with developing the consumer database,
and with developing and offering the Excite@Home services for new U.S.
and foreign markets; the degree to which device manufacturers are
willing to work with Excite@Home for the deployment of multiple-device
services; the degree that the Excite@Home services are accepted by
consumers, advertisers, and industry and technology partners;
potential competition from other broadband providers; and
Excite@Home's cable partners' willingness to continue to make the
investments required to upgrade the cable plant and actively market
the Excite@Home services to their customers. The matters discussed in
this press release also involve risks and uncertainties described from
time to time in Excite@Home's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. In particular, see the risk factors described in @Home
Network's Form S-3 filed on April 9, 1999 and in its Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended March 31, 1999 filed on May 17, 1999. Excite@Home
assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking information
contained in this press release.
####
So what has @Home got to do with Dialog ? in 97 Dialog & several major
players Softbank, Mitsui, Acer got to gether to form a consortium
called 4th Network Communcication of which Dialog has a 10% share
holding & a 30 yr lease giving them 10% of the revenue generated from
internet connections in return for giving up their stake in the hotel
internet connections it aleady had established. Both @Home & 4th
Network have stakes in each others companies as well as an exclusive
partnership deal,
see text
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact for 4th Network: >Leilani Valdes
The Weber Group
650/463-8642
Contact for @Home Network: Matt Wolfrom
@Home Network
650/569-5195
@Home Network and 4th Network to Deliver High-Speed Internet Services
to Hotels
Focus on Information Solutions for Business Travelers
SAN JOSE and REDWOOD CITY, Calif., December 1, 1997 -- @Home Network
(Nasdaq: ATHM), through its @Work Division and The Fourth
Communications Network, Inc. (4th Network) today announced an
agreement to deliver high-speed Internet services to the American
hotel industry. Leveraging @Work's intelligent, broadband network
architecture and 4th Network's new PC and laptop based in-room
services, the companies will provide a new level of Internet
capability for business travelers on the road. 4th Network and @Work
plan to begin deploying the new services in select locations this
quarter and expand nationwide in the first half of 1998.
In connection with the announcement, @Home Network will receive a
minority interest in 4th Network and have participatory rights on 4th
Network's Board of Directors. 4th Network is the leading provider of
high-speed Internet services for the hotel industry with long-term
contracts for several hundred thousand rooms worldwide and a growing
base of hotels operating globally.
"This agreement will extend our distribution in the commercial
Internet services market," said Don Hutchison, senior vice president
and general manager of @Work. "4th Network's access to major hotel
properties nationwide will be another great channel in delivering
comprehensive network and service solutions that meet the increasing
demand for reliable, high-speed Internet services among business
travelers."
4th Network CEO Scott Lewis added, "with the rapid increase in high
bandwidth at the office, hotels have to provide more than a modem
connection to the Internet - they need bandwidth coupled with the
infrastructure to support it along with applications to service
business travelers' needs. This agreement significantly strengthens
our competitive position by offering hotels the best possible Internet
solution over the coming years in conjunction with America's premier
broadband Internet pioneer -- @Home Network."
@Work (www.home.net/work) leverages the @Home network backbone and
distributed information architecture to provide high-speed Internet
access, internetworking services and value added applications to
businesses and organizations. @Work offers connectivity via a variety
of transport options that include hybrid fiber coaxial and telco
circuits. Through a combination of @Home's unique distributed
architecture and strong industry partnerships, @Work delivers a
network application platform for businesses looking for open standard
client-server and distributed object computing environments.
Based in Redwood City, California, @Home Network (www.home.net)
distributes high speed interactive services to residences and
businesses via its own network architecture and a variety of transport
options. Since its founding in 1995, @Home Network has reached
affiliate agreements with eight leading cable companies in North
America including Tele-Communications, Inc., Comcast Corporation, Cox
Communications, Cablevision Systems Corp., Rogers Cablesystems
Limited, Shaw Communications, InterMedia Partners and Marcus Cable.
Founded more than five years ago, 4th Network has long-term exclusive
contracts to provide high-speed Internet access and high-bandwidth
services for business travelers through its @Hotel service in hotels
in the U.S. and abroad. The firm has several hundred thousand hotel
rooms under contract globally and currently operates in more than 50
hotels worldwide. These include Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Radisson,
Sheraton and Westin properties. 4th Network is a privately held
company with financial backing from leading private and corporate
investors. Corporate strategic investors include Mitusi & Co. Ltd.,
one of the world's largest trading companies, SOFTBANK, the world's
largest publisher of computer related magazines and producer of
technology related trade shows, Dialog Corp, (formerly M.A.I.D. prior
to the acquisition of Knight Ridder Information) a leading
multi-national online information company and WI Harper, a leading
international venture capital and investment banking firm. Additional
information about 4th Network can be found at www.4thnet.com.
###
@Home Network, @Home, @Work and the @ logo are trademarks of @Home
Network and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. 4th Network
and @Hotel are trademarks of Fourth Communications Network, Inc. and
may be registered in certain jurisdictions.
This press release contains forward-looking information within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1933 and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to
the safe harbors created by those sections. These forward-looking
statements include statements related to the initial deployment and
expansion of the service, receipt of a minority interest in 4th
Network, customer acceptance of the service, and the release of, and
the derivation of revenue from, new products and services. The matters
discussed in this press release also involve risks and uncertainties
described from time to time in @Home's filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC). In particular, see "Risk Factors" in the
Final Prospectus for the @Home's initial public offering filed with
the SEC on July 11, 1997. @Home assumes no obligation to update the
information contained in this press release.
######
It is this exclusivity contract that would prevent Dialog from linking
up with someone else say Compuserve not to mention the loss of income
from this massive tie up - this is what I believe Dan is referring to
when he says big deal, it cant get any bigger than this Excite
recently knocked Yahoo off the number one spot - the deal was dealayed
for 5 months because of the mergers commision in the states this is
why Dan is no so close to making it know - the other reaon for the
delay is co-ordinating with the other partners involved.
4thnet.com
athome.net
4thnet-emea.com
ers1
So why has no one noticed all this, well it possible they lost
interest or didn,t make the connection because there is no information
out there on the 4th Network they are a privatly held consortium not
registed on any exchange. Or simply because the consortium was set up
when Dialog was still M.A.I.D.
The above is currently with main media - further details shortly
Gecks
Date: Mon Jun 7 11:28:14 1999 GMT/BST
From: Minty
hswt- Hmm, is it possible to guestimate revenue streams from this one?
I keep trying and coming up with silly numbers (maybe I'm right ;-)
Date: Mon Jun 7 11:42:40 1999 GMT/BST
From: fisco
This is only the begining, and further to come surely?
Again, great trawling Gecks.
Regards, Mike
Date: Mon Jun 7 11:47:13 1999 GMT/BST
From: epsilon15
Well done Gecks
Thanks agaion for all your research and contributions
E15
Date: Mon Jun 7 11:51:04 1999 GMT/BST
From: Learjet >> Gecks
hswt-
Excellent work again, but if this is the deal I would have expected
DLG to be announcing it from the rooftops. Not a word from them yet.
Dan is very good at timing his remarks normally. Perhaps there is more
to come?
Learjet
Date: Mon Jun 7 11:51:43 1999 GMT/BST
From: Crocodile
Gecks
O.K. to place this on the Yahoo board ?
Croc..
Date: Mon Jun 7 11:51:43 1999 GMT/BST
From: Crocodile
Gecks
O.K. to place this on the Yahoo board ?
Croc..
Date: Mon Jun 7 11:53:49 1999 GMT/BST
From: Crocodile
I bet the shorters are closing there positions right now !
I wished I could afford more.
Croc..
Date: Mon Jun 7 12:00:45 1999 GMT/BST
From: Gecks >> Croc
Go ahead - I can understand why Dan is having difficulty in bringing
this forward to the market - to make things more complicated a new
company has been formed in the US to fit in with the new Exite@Home
image - it is this company that will go forward in the alliance. I
have confirmation from 4th Network that it includes Dialog but will
exlude some of the founder members/partners - it is these negotiations
which is giving Dan the headache.
Gecks
Date: Mon Jun 7 12:09:57 1999 GMT/BST
From: Mike >> Gercks
Great information, Gerks, Thank you again. You probably need to join
Dialog or at least become their advisor. I think the most important
thing to be done is to publish something on a newspaper to defeat
Observor's influence.
Croc, please pass the information to Yahoo. We then should see the
price to move to the north continuously.
Mike
Date: Mon Jun 7 12:11:16 1999 GMT/BST
From: Gecks
Mirror have confirmed tomorrows edition
Date: Mon Jun 7 12:16:00 1999 GMT/BST
From: Mike
So we will see another big up tomorrow.
Cheers,
Mike
Date: Mon Jun 7 12:18:23 1999 GMT/BST
From: KP
What will the mirror say tomorrow
Date: Mon Jun 7 12:23:06 1999 GMT/BST
From: jac
I've just bought more at 105p. How high do you expect them to go.
thanks
jac
Date: Mon Jun 7 12:26:38 1999 GMT/BST
From: goat
I'm a holder of these shares and thank you boys for all your
work/investigation but two questions?
I know Wagner talked of a deal last week but what happened to his
reply to a bber e-mail approx 6 weeks ago of definite deals to be
announced very shortly i.e. 2 week timeframe
Secondly why does all this great investigation get picked up by or
fed/given to the Mirror.Why not the Financial Times - surely a more
reputable and widespread coverage?
Once again thanks are given
Date: Mon Jun 7 12:32:14 1999 GMT/BST
From: Mike >> goat
Somebody already mentined that Dan Wagner did get well with FT.
Date: Mon Jun 7 12:32:25 1999 GMT/BST
From: Learjet >> Gecks
hswt-
How do you expect the US to react to this news bearing in mind that
they are far more volatile to news announcements and in particular
anything connected to IT?. Pressumably the price should move north
with a bigger than normal volume.
cheers Learjet
Date: Mon Jun 7 12:32:33 1999 GMT/BST
From: Gecks >> goat
Its not just the Mirror covering the story this time - FT are
competitors to DLG in the on-line information world subsequently their
reporting is biased. Dan & the FT do not have the same relationship as
with other papers although they did run the last article on the back
page 5 or 6 lines.
I spoke to Dialog press office this morning about the Observer article
& they burst out laughing.
Gecks
Date: Mon Jun 7 12:35:38 1999 GMT/BST
From: Crocodile
Croc->Learjet & Gecks.
I have posted it on YAHOO, next time Gecks could you please find a
little less of it. It took 6 postings to send it all :))
Croc..
Date: Mon Jun 7 12:38:49 1999 GMT/BST
From: goat >> Gecks
Cheers for the prompt reply.Will sit back and wait for the northbound
move now.
Date: Mon Jun 7 12:58:56 1999 GMT/BST
From: Dreyfuss
I do hope you are reading this right and get a fat payoff. But be very
careful not to get too emotional and remember that what Dialog really
needs is more cash (preferably from sales) and not just hyped up
deals.
I've harped on about Dialog releasing hyped up press releases. Be
warned that Excite seems to release about 10 of them a week and few
get picked up on.
I'm not 100% sure of facts here but I noticed AOL/CompuServe getting
mentioned often as a potential partner. While I understand Dialog may
have a relationship with CompuServe Germany, I also understood that
MAID (now Dialog) had lost acreage it once held on either the full
AOL/CompuServe service (I remember someone moaning that the loss of
MAID was a sign of AOL/CIS decline).
To see what Dialog's up against, check out the likes of
<http://www.dowjones.com> Nothing Excite or Yahoo! do comes close.
Date: Mon Jun 7 13:17:09 1999 GMT/BST
From: dd >> Gecks
Iv'e only just subscribed to esi and the info you guys have dug up is
amazing, where do you you get the time? Don't stop though, a big well
done!
one thing are you saying that the Mirror have confirmed that they have
a press release for tommorrow?
Date: Mon Jun 7 13:18:17 1999 GMT/BST
From: HAYSTACK
The Excite deal looks interesting. I personally don't think that this
is the big deal in the wings. The announement would have been done
with more of a fanfare, particularly by Dialog. It is not the size or
type of deal hinted at in the Mirror. I do believe that there is
something big coming soon but this is not it. Dialog would be crowing
from the treetops and why not.
Date: Mon Jun 7 13:32:24 1999 GMT/BST
From: stable
From a recent newcomer of esi and an avid reader of thh BB many thanks
for this example of great work
Date: Mon Jun 7 13:33:12 1999 GMT/BST
From: Gecks
The negotiations are along these lines;
The founder members of the 4th Network are to dissolve this company &
realign themselves under the vehicle of @Hotel. One of the founder
members is leaving the aliance & selling their stake to a third party
(Quadriga owned by Nomura).
The original terms of the 4th Network have now changed to reflect each
companies new position in the alliance bearing in mind they are now
working with a major US portal. What deal Dialog will negotiate in
@Hotel no-one know's but the old deal under 4th Network entitled them
to 10% of all revenue on internet traffic through 4th Network & its
partners. If this were applied to Exite the revenue would be enormous.
It is these delicate talks which is preventing Dan from commenting.
The above article shows the framework in which this is taking place.
Coupled with Dans confirmation of EMC & extra traffic I find this
conclusive.
Gecks
Date: Mon Jun 7 13:35:32 1999 GMT/BST
From: hotei >> HAYSTACK
I agree with you. I think the research done by Gecks and others is
first rate, and they clearly found something that perhaps forced
Dialog's hand. I'm delighted if this keeps the share price bubbling
along, but I think there is something bigger than this going on.
If this were it, there would be announcements from Dialog, great
fanfares and popping of corks, etc, followed by a gradual decline in
share price as people tried to figure out the effect on revenue (which
could be anywhere in the range between not much to rather a lot !).
I'm happy to wait until THE DEAL is announced in the next few
days/weeks.
Date: Mon Jun 7 13:35:49 1999 GMT/BST
From: Minty
hswt- We do know that there are several 'non-competitive' deals
involved so its fair to say that this is probably one of them but is
by no means the whole picture. As you say, they would be shouting
about it very loudly if it was. I suspect that when the release does
hit the streets it will tie several things together and this deal wil
then be mentioned as part of the scenario.
Date: Mon Jun 7 13:37:27 1999 GMT/BST
From: hanndy
I'm driving overnight, so I should be able to pick up an early edition
of the Mirror. If there's any news I will post asap.
Date: Mon Jun 7 13:40:15 1999 GMT/BST
From: Tiger >> Gecks
Great research, have just bought at 106p, I have followed this stock
since the MAID days with great disapointment, however Im sure they
have now been oversold, cant wait for the US market, interesting the
MM did not want to hagle.
Date: Mon Jun 7 13:57:27 1999 GMT/BST
From: Mike
Bought another 10,000 at 106p. I have streched to the limit.
Date: Mon Jun 7 14:06:46 1999 GMT/BST
From: City Slacker
Just topped up myself at 106p.
Someone is confident about the US opening and piled in buying a
massive 28 shares!
Date: Mon Jun 7 14:32:49 1999 GMT/BST
From: Live Adventurously
Good work Gecks! I've just bought another 8K. Waiting for US to
open.
Date: Mon Jun 7 14:34:20 1999 GMT/BST
From: Live Adventurously
Actually - 10K got greedy at the last moment
Date: Mon Jun 7 14:42:43 1999 GMT/BST
From: Fax
No change on US open, DIAL 0.0% $6 7/8 - $7
Fax
Date: Mon Jun 7 14:43:05 1999 GMT/BST
From: Dufner >> Gecks
Gecks, you're on a roll.
Have the mirror confirmed that they're running a story to-morrow?
Any idea on what they'll say?
Has anybody got any comment from Dialog?
I'd like to buy some more, but I'm in Ireland and it's a bank
holiday!!
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