This morning AMZN announced it's acquiring CMGI-company PlanetAll. AMZN concurrently announced it's acquiring Junglee. Both acquisitions will cost $280 million in AMZN stock. In the past week, CMGI has sold its stakes in two very promising companies (including Reel.com). Is CMGI merely cashing in its chips, or is it shrewdly extending its reach and alliances (now w/ shares of AMZN and Hollywood Entertainment)? Quietly, last week CMGI also took a significant position in OMKT. It appears that CMGI is sort of hedging its bets, trading up from investments in start-ups to those in more established players. Though I'm disappointed that CMGI investors won't be benfitting from IPOs of PlanetAll and Reel.com, I'm very pleased that the company will now be a shareholder in AMZN, further extending the CMGI reach. Was anyone surprised that Reel.com wasn't sold to AMZN? I was, but perhaps some type of Hollywood Entertain-AMZN deal is in the offing -- brokered by CMGI. Who knows?
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Amazon.com Acquires Two Leading Internet Companies
Tuesday August 4, 7:30 am Eastern Time
Innovators PlanetAll and Junglee to Enrich Customers' E-Commerce Experience
SEATTLE, Aug., 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading online retailer Amazon.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN - news) today announced the signing of definitive agreements to acquire two innovative Internet companies to enrich its e-commerce experience for customers.
In separate transactions Amazon.com has agreed to acquire:
PlanetAll, based in Cambridge, Mass., which provides a unique Web-based address book, calendar, and reminder service at planetall.com. PlanetAll has 1.5 million members, and thousands of new members are joining each day to use the secure, free service to organize and automatically update information about friends, business associates, relatives, and alumni.
...
''PlanetAll is the most innovative use of the Internet I've seen,'' said Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. ''It's simply a
breakthrough in doing something as fundamental and important as staying in touch. The reason PlanetAll has over 1.5 million
members -- and is growing even faster than the Internet -- is simple: it creates extraordinary value for its users. I believe
PlanetAll will prove to be one of the most important online applications.''
PlanetAll is not only the best way to keep in touch with business associates and friends but also to get back in touch with old
friends. Users have complete control over their own contact information and decide what information they want to share with
others on a person-by-person basis. PlanetAll's service is compatible with personal information managers (PIMs) and personal
digital assistants (PDAs), such as Microsoft Outlook and 3Com Palm Pilot.
''PlanetAll's goal is to make staying in touch with friends and business contacts effortless,'' said Jim Savage, CEO of PlanetAll.
''Amazon.com allows us to take the vision of PlanetAll's founders, Warren Adams and Brian Robertson, to an even larger
audience. We're thrilled to join Amazon.com's world-class team that cares as deeply as we do about providing meaningful
services that enrich people's lives.''
''As an investor and partner, we recognized early on that this technology has enormous promise with widespread applicability,''
said Bob Davis, CEO of Lycos, which holds a stake in PlanetAll. ''We look forward to continuing to provide PlanetAll's secure and feature-rich service to Lycos users.''
PlanetAll has integrated its service within the sites of a number of Internet leaders, including Lycos and GeoCities, as well as
numerous universities and professional associations. Amazon.com intends to operate PlanetAll as a wholly owned subsidiary
located in Cambridge. Savage and the two cofounders will remain with the company.
...
Amazon.com will acquire 100 percent of the outstanding shares and assume all outstanding options of Junglee and PlanetAll in
exchange for equity having an aggregate value of approximately $280 million. Amazon.com will issue approximately 800,000
shares and assume all outstanding options in connection with the acquisition of PlanetAll and anticipates accounting for this
transaction as a pooling of interests. Amazon.com will issue approximately 1.6 million shares and assume all outstanding options
in connection with the acquisition of Junglee and anticipates accounting for this transaction under the purchase method of
accounting. Each transaction is expected to close within the quarter, subject to customary closing conditions.
...
About PlanetAll
PlanetAll provides a unique Web-based address book, calendar, and reminder service at planetall.com. PlanetAll
has 1.5 million members, and thousands of new members are joining each day to use the secure, free service to organize and
automatically update information about friends, business associates, relatives, and alumni. The service was launched in
November 1996, and its investors include CMG @Ventures, Arts Alliance, Lycos, and Puma Technology.
...
SOURCE: Amazon.com, Inc. |
