Info from Marketwatch ref Lycos/USA deal off
HOT LYCOS info
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USA Networks set to end Lycos bid
Compiled by CBS MarketWatch
Last Update: 3:54 AM ET May 10, 1999
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- USA Networks Inc., facing stiff shareholder opposition to its deal to buy Lycos Inc., is expected to abandon its three-month-long bid to acquire the Internet company. The Wall Street Journal reported that USA Networks hasn't reached a final decision about walking away from Lycos, but USA Networks (USAI: news, msgs) has concluded that it can't win the approval for the bid in a vote of Lycos shareholders. That vote had been planned for July. It is possible that USA Networks will decide to sweeten its bid for the Internet portal company. But Barry Diller, USA Networks chairman and chief executive officer, has so far rejected such a move, making an amended bid unlikely. One calculation driving USA Networks' thinking, the Journal reported, is that if USA Networks walks away from Lycos (LCOS: news, msgs) now, it would have a chance to swoop back in and rebid for Lycos at a later date in the event that Internet stock prices fall sometime soon. In fact, part of the reason USA Networks persisted with its bid in the face of resistance from some shareholders, is that the Diller camp thought there was a good possibility that technology stocks would decline significantly before the July vote, making the bid more attractive. The Wall Street Journal
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