Yahoo! Browses For More Acquisitions
By Paul de Bendern
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (Reuters) - Internet navigation company Yahoo! Inc.
said it had $450 million in cash to make more
acquisitions and partnership deals to retain its leadership position in
the Net directory business.
Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang said the company was focused on cutting
deals that could help it expand further into e-mail,
digital calendar programs and online commerce.
''A big part of our growth is going to come from making smart
acquisitions because organically you can only grow so fast,''
Yang told Reuters.
Yahoo, which provides free e-mail, news and other services in addition
to its well-known Internet directory, expects to receive
$190 million in advertisement revenues for the whole of 1998, Yang said.
Yahoo reached a deal to expand its online commerce offerings by buying
the online direct marketing firm, Yoyodyne
Entertainment Inc., for roughly $30 million earlier this month. Last
month, it sealed a partnership deal with AT&T Corp. (T -
news)
''We have to continue being leader in the product, that's absolutely the
No. 1 priority. We have to continue being a brand
leader,'' Yang said.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT - news) will become more of a threat to Yahoo as
it groups its various World Wide Web sites under
the MSN.com brand name, Yang said. Yahoo also competes with Internet
companies like America Online Inc. (AOL - news),
Infoseek Corp. (SEEK - news) and Excite Inc. (XCIT - news)
''We have to continue to be innovative and ahead of other people, but
more importantly we have to be what people want to
use. ... If 11 million people don't chose Yahoo every day, we don't have
a business,'' Yang said.
Yahoo, started in 1994 by Yang and fellow Stanford University student
David Filo, will focus on partnerships ahead of
acquisitions using cash or stock, said Yang, who holds the title Chief
Yahoo! and is also a member of the board.
''We've done a couple of things like minority investments in small
companies that would be good partners for us. ... You'll see
us do a lot more of that: anything from technology companies to service
companies,'' Yang said. |
