To: Jenna who wrote (46498 ) 6/25/1999 2:49:00 PM From: BRANDYBGOOD Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 120523
Did anyone see this article on JWEB? Friday June 25, 2:23 pm Eastern Time Juno up on AOL takeover rumor NEW YORK, June 25 (Reuters) - Shares in Internet e-mail service provider Juno Online Services Inc. rose to their best level ever on Friday amid rumors that the company would be acquired by America Online Inc. Juno, which offers free basic e-mail service, reached a high of $29.375 before slipping back to $26.06, up $3.875, in early afternoon trading. The stock made its market debut just last month at $13 a share. Juno was among the most active issues on the Nasdaq stock market, with nearly 7 million shares changing hands. AOL was off $5.125 at $101.625. Rumors of a deal between AOL and Juno were prominent in Internet chat rooms. ''I've heard the same rumors you've heard'' about the companies, said Ned Collins, head of trading at Daiwa Securities America. A spokeswoman for New York-based Juno refused to comment on the rumors. AOL officials were not immediately available for comment. PaineWebber analyst James Preissler said a deal ''could make sense for AOL.'' ''The two companies are both essentially competing for the same group of new users -- the mass market consumers that are coming online currently,'' Preissler said in a report. ''Juno, through its free e-mail offering, has a product that captures users who are not quite ready for the full Web experience and just testing the online waters through use of e-mail.'' He said other companies that could benefit from a combination with Juno included portal Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news), Infoseek Corp. (Nasdaq:SEEK - news) and Snap.com, the joint venture between General Electric Co.'s (NYSE:GE - news) NBC unit and CNet Inc. (Nasdaq:CNET - news).