To: William F. Wager, Jr. who wrote (34 ) 6/30/1999 8:50:00 AM From: Ellen Respond to of 838
From a smartporfolio.com newsletter:Rumors of a CMGI (Nasdaq:CMGI) buyout of AltaVista , the Internet search engine owned by Compaq (NYSE:CPQ), finally proved true on Tuesday. CMGI announced that it would be acquiring an 83% ownership stake in AltaVista in exchange for issuing Compaq a combination of common and preferred stock and notes totaling $2.3 billion. This 83% stake implies a total value of $2.7 billion for AltaVista. With this deal, CMGI is entering new territory, as it had previously limited its role to an investor in, not an operator of, Internet companies. CMGI surged 12 5/8 (12.92%) to 110 5/16 while Compaq closed up 1 1/16 (4.76%) to 23 3/8. The deal also includes several other partnerships between Compaq and CMGI. CMGI has agreed to use Compaq as a strategic IT partner and to use Compaq's products and services throughout CMGI and its various operating Internet subsidiaries. In return, Compaq will profile CMGI's various Internet subsidiaries in its web products and work towards making AltaVista the premier search engine portal. For CMGI, there are a number of motivations for this deal. Perhaps most important, AltaVista provides CMGI with a centralized web resource to drive traffic to CMGI's other Internet investments. This allows CMGI to develop a network-based approach to its various investments and integrate them more effectively. Also important, CMGI's primary role as an investor in budding Internet companies may be coming into conflict with The Investment Company Act of 1940. This law requires different tax treatment and reporting/regulatory requirements for companies whose primary operations are investing. By purchasing an operating subsidiary such as AltaVista, CMGI would not longer be subject to this law and could continue incubating Internet companies as easily as it had done in the past.