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Technology Stocks : CMGI What is the latest news on this stock? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Guardian who wrote (10802)	6/24/1999 7:59:00 AM
From: polarisnh	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 19700

CMGI talks with Lycos stalled -- WSJ NEW YORK, June 24 (Reuters) - CMGI Inc has held talks with Lycos Inc. (Nasdaq:LCOS - news) about a possible acquisition of the Web portal, but discussions have recently stalled amid ill feelings between the chief executive officers of the two companies, the Wall Street Journal reported. CMGI is currently in talks to buy AltaVista from Compaq Computer (NYSE:CPQ - news) along with other assets for $2 billion to $3 billion in stock, according to the paper. Citing people familiar with matter, the Journal said that though it couldn't be determined how far the merger talks proceeded, the companies foundered partly on the unwillingness of Lycos's CEO, Robert Davis, to work for his CMGI counterpart, David Wetherell. Relations between the two men previously broke down in February after Wetherell, then a Lycos board member, retracted his support for a merger between Lycos, USA Networks (Nasdaq:USAI - news) and Ticketmaster Online-Citysearch (Nasdaq:TMCS - news) and quit the Lycos board to fight it, the paper said. People familiar with Lycos's thinking said the company hasn't completely foreclosed a sale to CMGI. But Lycos has been pressing for a deal that would value its shares above $127, the price at which they were trading before the USA Networks deal was announced, said one person familiar with the matter, according to the Journal That would value Lycos at about $6 billion. Lycos shares closed Wednesday at $93-1/2, up $4.4375 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. CMGI shares rose $4 to $98.9375 on Nasdaq. A common strand between the CMGI interest in Lycos and the Compaq assets, said people close to the matter, is CMGI's need to bolster its operating assets to avoid possibly onerous regulation as an investment company, or mutual fund, under federal securities laws. Compaq's board is expected to vote on the CMGI acquisition proposal Thursday, according to a Compaq insider, the paper reported.

To: Guardian who wrote (10802)	6/24/1999 9:28:00 AM
From: Craig McNeill	Respond to of 19700

Why good for CPQ ? 1) CPQ hasn't been able to leverage its internet assets. Bringing in DW/CMGI, and holding CMGI stock, will allow them to see greater asset appreciation without further time/cash investment on their part. 2) CPQ needs to focus on their core business. AltaVista is only a sideline that takes time away from managing pcs, midrange, and IT services. Remember, they want to compete with IBM, not Yahoo,AOL, CMGI et al. 3) With softer IPO market, and view that AltaVista is a 2nd tier search engine, they may not get what they would want in any IPO/spinoff. Yeah, maybe at $2b they are a little shortchanged. But the deal being negotiated will enhance that value with some sort of dividend stream going forward, including appreciation of cmgi stock (wouldn't you like to own 20m shares ?). cm

To: Guardian who wrote (10802)	6/24/1999 2:51:00 PM
From: Stuart C Hall	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 19700

Re: Davis and DW. How is the next big CEO going to view DW's negotiations if he establishes a reputation for ending up the enemy of those he has come to help? I don't hold any LCOS, but I can see why Davis is upset. Why would CMGI buy AV at $2B over LCOS at $6B? CMGI is already 18% there to owning LCOS. So let's call LCOS a $4.8B acquisition. Besides, portals are all about EYEBALLS. LCOS is number two, AV is number 10 or worse? LCOS has 30 million visitors in May. AV had 9.5 million. AV visitors come to search, LCOS visitors come for information. I know one of these deals is going to happen, as CMGI wants to comply with the SEC. But think about this.....$2B would fund a whole lot of startups! At the rate of 1000 business plans a month I'm sure CMGI could find some gems in there. With this perspective, this may be the reason CMGI is backing off the high price of LCOS and going for a lower priced AV. It creates the opportunity for CMGI to route the savings into it's core business, STARTUPS. Still not convinced about AV. Stuart