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Technology Stocks : InfoSpace (INSP): Where GNET went! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (13209)	10/26/1999 12:44:00 AM
From: sandintoes	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 28311

What do you make of this? All Headlines Canada's Copernic denies any Microsoft takeover By Patrick White QUEBEC CITY, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Canadian Internet firm Copernic Technologies denied on Monday a published report that it was about to be sold to U.S. software giant Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) for about $120 million. "We are not up for sale. There is no transaction with Microsoft," said Martin Bouchard, the 26-year-old chief executive of the Quebec-based firm. Copernic is involved in the growing business of providing search engines for the Internet. A search engine enables a user to browse through hundreds of millions of Internet pages, other Web search engines or data banks. It can be used to compare shopping prices on the Internet or search for a broad variety of information. A front-page story in Le Journal de Quebec daily newspaper on Saturday said Copernic would be sold "within the new few weeks." Despite denying an imminent sale, Bouchard conceded that companies such as Microsoft were interested in the burgeoning firm because of a "craving for information search engines." Bouchard added that Copernic would announce a search engine deal with a U.S. West-Coast audio-video firm within the next two weeks. "We are creating a new product with them," said Bouchard, who added the product would be a new research tool for the audio-video Internet world that could potentially reach tens of millions of users. "As far as we are concerned, it is the biggest deal ever for Copernic. It is substantial," Bouchard said, adding he would soon open an office in Seattle, Washington, a Mecca for the computer business. Copernic, which has 25 employees but expects to hire 20 more in the next year, is mainly owned by 40 shareholders in Quebec. The company intends to launch an initial public offering within the next year. "We are really growing, and like our competitors, we plan to get between $200 and $300 million from the IPO. We think that is what we are worth on the public market. This is our game plan," Bouchard said. He said the money would be used to acquire complementary products, develop sales and marketing in the United States, integrate its search engine on Web portals and implement a system of royalties for users. Internet users often chose a Web portal as a home page because it provides a variety of services such as news and information and electronic commerce in a single location. Bouchard said Copernic (www.copernic.com) would introduce on Tuesday a new powerful Internet search engine named "Copernic2000," which can be used by the public or professionals. Copernic competes with search engines from Go2Net Inc. (NASDAQ: GNET), Intelliseek Inc. and Inktomi Corp. (NASDAQ: INKT). Bouchard declined to reveal the private company's annual revenues but said it made a profit in fiscal 1998-99. "We are forecasting 10 to 15-percent revenue growth per month and we expect our revenues to triple by June 2000," he said. ($1=$1.47 Canadian)