wsj interactive
March 31, 1999
Yahoo! to Acquire Broadcast.com
In Stock Swap Valued at $4 Billion
An INTERACTIVE JOURNAL News Roundup
Yahoo! Inc. said it agreed to acquire Broadcast.com Inc. for $4 billion in stock, a deal that could quicken the pace of audio and video usage on the Web.
Shares of Broadcast.com, a Dallas Internet broadcaster, surged last week amid speculation about just such a deal, followed by news that talks were indeed being held. On Wednesday, Broadcast.com's stock closed up $4.8125 to $118.1875 on the Nasdaq Stock Market, while Yahoo shares declined $3.9275 to $168.375. The deal was announced after the close of trading.
Company Profile: Yahoo!
Yahoo, which has grown from an Internet directory into a broad portal for information and commerce, had become increasingly eager to solidify its position on the Internet as powerful competitors began to consolidate and launch challenges. People close to the situation said last week that the talks were being spearheaded by Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and President Jeff Mallett -- in order to further extend the Santa Clara, Calif., company's network of branded media sites.
Another motivation: the need to line up partners as high-speed interactive services -- which include audio, video and other multimedia data -- become a reality. Internet, telephone and cable-TV companies are all racing to offer such services to a wider audience. Yahoo's marketing muscle could accelerate acceptance of services pioneered by Broadcast.com, which uses the Internet to relay audio and video programming from radio stations, sporting events and corporate meetings.
People familiar with the talks said last week that one worry for Yahoo was that the company's profits -- rare in the Internet world -- would be eroded by money-losing Broadcast.com.
Until it moved to acquire GeoCities Inc., a community of Web sites that Yahoo agreed to buy this year in a multibillion-dollar stock swap, Yahoo had been regarded as being a cautious deal maker, and had considered some acquisition opportunities that ultimately went to other companies. But a flurry of Internet deals late last year and the broader industry trends toward consolidation made Yahoo more aggressive.
Yahoo has an existing relationship with Broadcast.com similar to one it had with GeoCities: More than a year ago, Yahoo signed a distribution deal with Broadcast.com and took a minority position in the company, then called AudioNet, for $1,350,000.
Broadcast.com went public in July and has seen its shares soar since then. But the company has sustained only losses in its efforts so far, including a 1998 loss of $14.9 million on revenue of $22.4 million. It derives about two-thirds of its revenue from business services, such as hosting a video conference of a company's sales meeting over the Internet.
The company started in 1995 when Todd Wagner, an attorney, and Mark Cuban, a computer-networking executive, learned about RealNetworks Inc.'s software for transmitting audio signals over the Internet. They decided they would help radio stations put their broadcasts online, initially trading their service to radio stations for the right to sell a few minutes of on-air advertising a day. Web banner ads later supplemented their revenue.
By the time the company went public in July, it had signed up more than 300 radio stations and locked in exclusive contracts to transmit most major college athletic events along with several pro sports. Even then, however, Broadcast.com's business services were beginning to surge as corporations recognized they could save thousands of dollars by holding a meeting via an Internet audio conference rather than a phone-company conference call.
Broadcast.com continued to explore new services, including the transmission of movies straight from a Hollywood studio through an agreement last month with Trimark Holdings Inc., a Santa Monica, Calif., film producer. Broadcast.com also recently garnered a lot of media attention from its Web broadcast of lingerie retailer Victoria's Secret's fashion show.
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