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Thursday April 29, 8:31 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Go2Net, Inc.
Go2Net Acquires Virtual Avenue and USA
Online, Adding 85,000 Member Businesses
And Business Directory to HyperMart
Go2Net Network Now Home to More Than 275,000 Small- and Medium-Sized Businesses
SEATTLE, April 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Go2Net, Inc. (Nasdaq: GNET - news), a network of branded, technology-and community-driven Web sites ( go2net.com ), today announced the acquisition of Virtual Avenue (
virtualave.net ), a leading provider of free Web hosting services for small- and medium-sized businesses, for approximately $23 million in Go2Net stock. The acquisition is effective immediately and adds more than 85,000 member businesses to HyperMart ( hypermart.net ), Go2Net's free business hosting service, which had a base of more than 190,000 small- and medium-sized businesses prior to the acquisition. HyperMart and Virtual Avenue are now growing at
the combined rate of more than 1,000 new member businesses per day.
As part of the transaction, Go2Net also acquired USA Online ( usaol.com ), a directory of business Web sites featuring more than 200,000 listings organized geographically and by business category. USA Online currently processes approximately 250,000 user requests per day for businesses in all 50 states and in dozens of selected categories. Go2Net will position both Virtual Avenue and USA Online under the HyperMart umbrella.
''The acquisition of Virtual Avenue extends HyperMart's position as the Internet's largest aggregation of small- and medium-sized businesses,'' said Russell C. Horowitz, Go2Net Chief Executive Officer. ''Now with more than a quarter million member businesses and accelerated membership growth, HyperMart is exceptionally well-positioned for leadership in online commerce and business services, both in business-to-business and business-to-consumer environments. USA Online's
directory will also be of particular value in categorizing and providing improved access channels for our expanding base of
businesses.''
This complements Go2Net's separate announcements last week surrounding the relaunch of HyperMart and the acquisition of
Haggle Online, an auction service that will be extended to HyperMart, both for business-to-business and business-to-consumer
transactions. In the coming months, HyperMart will also introduce shopping cart and turnkey commerce site-builder solutions,
enabling HyperMart businesses to sell goods and services in fully secured, transaction-enabled environments. Unveiled April
21, HyperMart's redesign includes a completely new user interface and a variety of features and services, including the most
comprehensive customer support program in the free Web hosting sector: Technical support 24 hours a day, seven days a week
for all HyperMart businesses. |
