Compaq's 'expensive' move-WSJ [ref:shopping.com]
John:
Looks like somebody made a $200 million boo-boo,wonder how much gigabuys cost Dell to develop? Not $200 mil by long shot.
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Technology News
Mon, 29 Mar 1999, 7:55am EST
Compaq Purchase of Shopping.com Was 'Expensive,' WSJ Reports
Houston, March 29 (Bloomberg) -- The purchase of Shopping.com
by Compaq Computer Corp., the world's largest personal computer-
maker, may have been too ''expensive,'' as Shopping.com has a
troubled history and needs to boost revenue, BancBoston Robertson
Stephens analyst Daniel T. Niles told the Wall Street Journal's
''Heard on the Street.'' The U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission temporarily suspended trading in the online merchant
last March because of evidence of manipulative activity, and
company founder Robert McNulty was sued by the SEC in 1994. Even
if Shopping.com isn't profitable, it's unlikely to hurt Compaq as
Shopping.com is a much smaller company, said Piper Jaffray Inc.
analyst Ashok Kumar, and Compaq's Alta Vista Vice President Mike
Rubin told the Journal that Shopping.com could be ''big, big,
big.''
Compaq said earlier this month that it completed its $220
million acquisition of Corona del Mar, California-based
Shopping.com, for which Compaq paid $18.25 a share for all the
outstanding shares.
(WSJ 3/29 C1 wsj.com) |
