Monday June 7 7:18 PM ET
CMGI's NaviSite In Deals With Dell And Microsoft
By Nicole Volpe
NEW YORK (Reuters) - NaviSite Inc. Monday said it signed deals with personal computer maker Dell Computer Corp. (Nasdaq:DELL - news) and software giant Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) to promote their products to customers who use Navisite to manage their Web sites.
In return, Dell, the world's No. 2 personal computer maker, agreed to take a 4.9 percent stake in NaviSite, while Microsoft will take a 4.4 percent interest in NaviSite, a majority-owned unit of Internet venture capital firm CMGI Inc. (Nasdaq:CMGI - news)
The alliances make Dell and Microsoft preferred providers of hardware and services to 150 NaviSite clients, including the Web sites of jeans maker Levi-Strauss, stock investment chat-room Raging Bull and Ancestry.com, a genealogy firm.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The chief executive of NaviSite, which manages Web sites on customers' behalf and rents software applications via the Internet to them, said in a telephone interview Monday he considered the deals to be a ''significant endorsement.''
CMGI shares closed up $13.00 to $107.25 Monday, during a day when Internet-related stocks were rebounding after stiff declines in recent weeks for the sector.
In its deal with Dell, Chief Executive Joel Rosen said NaviSite had named the Round Rock, Texas-based computer maker as its preferred supplier of servers, storage and PCs for clients who buy Web site hosting and software services from NaviSite.
NaviSite will use Dell hardware to manage its customer Web sites and software services for customers who do not have a preference for other brands.
Rosen said Dell and NaviSite intend to pursue co-marketing
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