Here is the news you might have seen with some comments from DCLK per the article..
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Shares of DoubleClick dropped 8.4 percent in heavy volume Friday afternoon on concern over the stability of its ad deals with the AltaVista portal, analysts said.
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Updated:
6/27/99 3:57:48 PM ET
Blair, William & Co. analyst Anthia Christian said there was concern that if CMGI acquires the AltaVista search engine, it will move ad sales, management and targeting operations to a pair of companies of which CMGI is part owner.
The Internet incubator (CMGI: news, msgs) confirmed Thursday that it is in talks to acquire AltaVista, which some reports indicate could cost $3 billion. See related story. Compaq (CPQ: news, msgs) owns AltaVista, having acquired it as part of a purchase of Digital Equipment.
CMGI owns chunks of both Adsmart, which offers ad sales and management services, and Engage, which has ad targeting and serving technology. The two privately held companies compete with the more established DoubleClick (DCLK: news, msgs).
A DoubleClick representative, who declined to be named, said the concern was "an overreaction." The company inked three-year ad deal with AltaVista in January, and that contract is still valid, the source pointed out.
"Alta Vista is the crown jewel for DoubleClick -- its largest customer," Blair William's Christian said. "It's not clear how the deal will work out, but the market is clearly deciding that today."
DoubleClick's stock fell 6 12/16 to 74 7/8, while CMGI shares shed 3 1/2 to 93.
The decline in DoubleClick bled over to Abacus Direct, which DoubleClick said two weeks ago it would acquire for about $1 billion. See related story. Abacus (ABDR: news, msgs) dropped 7 7/16 to 74.
Separately, Compaq is scheduled to hold a conference call on Monday to discuss features and services on its AltaVista site. A Compaq representative said CMGI's bid for AltaVista would not be discussed on that call. |
