:
From Wall Street Interactive Edition
Internet media outfit CNET Inc. has acquired NetVentures Inc., an
e-commerce software firm, for $8 million in stock as part of an effort
to create an online marketplace for computer resellers.
At the same time, CNET chairman and chief executive officer Halsey Minor
tried to deflated takeover rumors that some analysts have said are
partly behind a recent run-up in the company's stock.
"I'm not talking to anyone now," Mr. Minor said in an interview. "But I
hate answering that question because nine months from now someone may
put an offer on the table I can't refuse. We intend to remain a
stand-alone, highly profitable company."
San Francisco-based CNET said the acquisition of NetVentures will give
it control of ShopBuilder (www.shopbuilder.com), a site that allows
merchants to easily set up an online store through ordinary Web
browsers. CNET hopes to target a fast-growing market with the
store-building tools: resellers of so-called white-box personal
computers, the unbranded machines that account for an estimated 30% of
all U.S. computer sales.
Usually cheaper than brand-name PCs from companies like Compaq Computer
Corp., Dell Computer Corp. and others, white-box PCs are especially
popular among small and medium-sized businesses, accounting for roughly
40% of that market's sales, according to Access Media International.
The company said it would provide the store-building tools to white-box
resellers on Shopper.com, a CNET Web site that currently lists prices
for brand-name PCs and other hardware and software and provides
hyperlinks to large online merchants such as NECX Direct and
HardwareStreet.com. Those merchants, though, are more capable of
operating their own stores than the average white-box vendor, said Mr.
Minor.
"None of them have the financial wherewithal to build e-commerce sites,"
Mr. Minor said. "We allow them to market products in the same way a Dell
or Compaq can."
The company plans to host the smaller companies' Web sites for a
"nominal fee," Mr. Minor said. It will also list the white-box prices
and product specifications in the comparison-shopping lists on
Shopper.com, making money from every sales lead it generates through the
list.
CNET will issue 100,000 common shares to acquire 100% of the stock of
closely held NetVentures, a tiny two-person outfit based in San
Francisco. The company plans to use the pooling-of-interest method to
account for the deal.
Shares of CNET closed up $2.625 to $120.50 on the Nasdaq Stock Market --
just beneath an all-time high of $127.625 hit in intraday trading
Tuesday. Mr. Minor attributed the run-up in the company's stock to a
combination of factors, including the spate of acquisitions in the Web
market that have increased focus on Snap, the Web portal jointly owned
by CNET and General Electric Co.'s NBC unit. Mr. Minor also said CNET
stands to benefit from the pending initial public offering of Vignette
Corp., an Austin, Tex.-based Internet-software provider, 10% of which is
owned by CNET.
"Those are things no one ever focused on before," said Mr. Minor. |
