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Technology Stocks : juno.com (JWEB)----IPO -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SJS who wrote (164)	6/25/1999 7:26:00 PM
From: Dick W	Respond to of 510

Juno Online won't elaborate on AOL talk Shares rise as exec tells MarketWatch of 'feelers' By Darren Chervitz, CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 5:52 PM ET Jun 25, 1999 See: NewsWatch SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Shares of Internet service provider Juno Online Services rose 18 percent Friday on speculation America Online is courting the tiny Manhattan-based Internet services provider "Every company in our position gets inquiries," said Juno's president, Charles Ardai, in an exclusive interview with CBS.MarketWatch.com. "Everybody is putting out feelers left and right. It doesn't always lead to (merger-and-acquisition activity). Sometimes it leads to new business relationships," Ardai said in an interview in San Francisco. Ardai said both AOL (AOL: news, msgs) and Juno (JWEB: news, msgs), which went public in May at $13 a share, both serve a similar demographic, the mass market of consumers that want to get online and are looking for a simple way to get there. One analyst said an AOL-Juno merger makes sense. "Juno, through its free e-mail offering, has a product that captures users who are not quite ready for the full Web experience," said James Preissler, an Internet analyst at PaineWebber. But David Simons, managing director of the New York-based institutional research firm Digital Video Investments, pointed out that if AOL wanted to buy Juno, it would have made an attempt to do so prior to Juno's IPO, when the company ostensibly could have been bought for a cheaper price. When questioned why AOL wouldn't have approached Juno prior to the IPO, Ardai responded: "They might have." Simons also wondered why AOL would want a free e-mail provider. "Free e-mail isn't a new idea. AOL has had much time to consider it, and most likely has done so thoroughly." Simons said. Juno Online offers consumers three different levels of Internet access: A free basic e-mail service, a full-featured e-mail account for $2.95 a month and full Web access for $19.95 a month. Juno shares closed Friday up 3 15/16 to 26 1/8. AOL's stock, meanwhile, was down 3 15/16 to 102 13/16, as a Net-stock rally crumbled. See our AOL story. Darren Chervitz reports for CBS MarketWatch.