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Technology Stocks : Gemstar Intl (GMST) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: shamsaee who wrote (3227)	7/4/2000 10:47:08 AM
From: tekboy	Respond to of 6516

FYI all... news-observer.wsj.com Q: Is there a real chance that the Gemstar-TV Guide merger will not be approved? -- M.G., Brooklyn, N.Y. A: TV Guide, the weekly magazine of television-program listings, also distributes those listings online and on television. Gemstar, which holds nearly 100 patents on interactive electronic program guides, announced a deal to acquire TV Guide in October for more than $9 billion in stock. Rumors that regulators would block the merger on antitrust grounds prompted a sell-off in both stocks, causing executives of both firms to state publicly that the merger is on track. Shares of the two companies have rebounded a bit lately. TV Guide President Peter Boylan says he is confident the deal will close "sometime in July." Still, the companies continue to answer questions from the Department of Justice. There is a possibility the government will impose strict conditions on the deal, or even block it entirely, over concerns that a combined company would exercise too much control over the nascent market for interactive electronic program guides. "If the Justice Department agreed to this merger, a lot of companies in the cable industry would have a legitimate case that this is shutting them out of a market they should be able to play in," says analyst Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research. "On the other hand, if Justice blocked the deal, it would be unprecedented, predicting the rise of a monopoly in an industry that doesn't exist yet." tekboy@boyoboyoboylan.com