LCOS move......Wednesday September 8 3:17 AM ET
Lycos Buys Quote.Com For $78.3 Mln
BOSTON (Reuters) - Internet portal firm, Lycos Inc. (Nasdaq:LCOS - news) said Wednesday it signed
an agreement to buy Quote.com, which provides financial information to subscribers on the Web, for
$78.3 million in stock, plus assume the privately-held company's stock option plan.
Neither company would disclose the value of the stock option plan.
Mountain View, Calif.-based Quote.com offers some 300,000 subscribers news and information from Reuters, Standard &
Poor's, and PR Newswire, real-time stock quotes, earnings reports, company profiles and analytical market tools.
''Financial and investment are very popular reasons why people visit the Web and this will strengthen our offerings in that area,''
Lycos spokeswoman Michele Perry said.
One of the fastest-growing Internet portals, Waltham, Mass.-based Lycos is visited by more than 30 million people each month
and features services such as Web searching, chat rooms, e-mail, online shopping, news, auctions and home pages. About 75
percent of Lycos' revenue comes from advertising.
The acquisition, subject to Quote.com shareholder approval, is expected to close by year's end. The deal also brings to Lycos
Charles Schwab, Waterhouse Securities, Sun America and Bank of America/Nations Bank whose sites rely on Quote.com
content and services.
Earlier this year, Lycos's 1999 merger agreement with USA Networks fizzled and the company remains available to other
suitors. Internet investment firm CMGI owns 18 percent of Lycos.
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