Paul,
Some interesting details about an e-commerce venture of which we all seem to be a part of (from Briefing.com):
go2net to Acquire Silicon Investor for $33 Million in Stock
PR Newswire - April 23, 1998 10:33
Combination Will Create the Premier Destination On the Web for Investors
SEATTLE, April 23 /PRNewswire/ -- go2net, Inc. (Nasdaq: GNET), a leader in
providing technology-driven Web sites (http://www.go2net.com), has entered
into a definitive agreement to acquire Silicon Investor, one of the largest
communities on the Internet (http://www.techstocks.com). This acquisition will
increase advertising, subscription and commerce opportunities for go2net, as
well as nearly triple the company's current total page views per month and
significantly increase its overall reach.
More than 100,000 individual investors visit Silicon Investor each day to
discuss and research investments, resulting in over 100 million page views per
month. This makes it one of the most highly trafficked sites in the personal
finance category, which has been identified by analysts as one of the most
financially lucrative on the entire Web.
The combination of Silicon Investor and go2net's existing StockSite
(http://www.stocksite.com) will create one of the premier destinations on the
Web for the individual investor, with over 150,000 unique users per day and a
community of over 1 million. It will also create an unparalleled "one-stop
shop" destination for investors, and will offer financial discussion,
proprietary company and market analysis, company research offerings, portfolio
services, and comprehensive charting capabilities. Further, it will greatly
benefit the site's advertisers and commerce partners.
"Silicon Investor is the perfect match for us because of our shared
business philosophy of technology-driven Web sites, which allows for low-cost
content creation" said Russell C. Horowitz, CEO of go2net. "Our acquisition of
Silicon Investor presents tremendous opportunities for operational synergies."
Silicon Investor co-founder Jeff Dryer stated, "We started Silicon
Investor with a dream and that dream is now bigger than ever. go2net has the
infrastructure in place and the vision to take Silicon Investor to the next
level."
Added co-founder Brad Dryer, "We are looking forward to moving operations
to Seattle. go2net has a young, fast-moving team that works well together and
sees the infinite potential of the financial space."
The acquisition will allow go2net to create one of the largest online
communities in a highly desirable demographic category and provide advertisers
with a greater inventory of targeted advertising opportunities. Based on
recent usage numbers, go2net and Silicon Investor together have approximately
500,000 unique visitors per day, as well as 5 million unique users and 180
million page views per month, placing go2net in the top tier of the online
industry.
Acquiring Silicon Investor represents a significant step in go2net's
acquisition strategy, which is aimed toward creating a network of premier
niche Web sites. This transaction will position go2net to pursue four distinct
revenue streams: Advertising, Subscription Services, Technology Licensing and
Commerce. In addition to advertising revenues, Silicon Investor derives a
substantial portion of its revenues from subscription fees.
Under the terms of the acquisition, go2net will issue approximately 1.25
million of its common shares in exchange for all outstanding securities of
Silicon Investor, which will become a wholly owned subsidiary of go2net. The
acquisition is subject to the approval of go2net's shareholders and other
customary closing conditions.
In operation since 1995, Silicon Investor is the largest discussion
community on the Web and holds the number one market position for financial
discussion both in terms of quantity and quality of messages. Over 70,000
messages are posted per week and more than 4 million messages have been posted
to date, a number that represents more than 70% of all financial discussion on
the Internet over the last three years. It is one of the top 10 trafficked
Web sites in the personal finance category and is one of the top 100 Web sites
overall according to PC Magazine Online. In addition, Brad and Jeff Dryer, co-
founders of Silicon Investor, have been recognized by Institutional Investor
magazine as being among 20 pioneers who are revolutionizing finance on the
Web.
go2net's Russell C. Horowitz added, "As significant as the acquisition of
Silicon Investor is in executing our plan of creating a network of premier
niche Web sites, we are equally excited to have Brad and Jeff Dryer join the
go2net team. We will be looking for Brad and Jeff to continue providing the
vision behind the site and will provide the necessary resources for them to
enhance the site and build the community. They have been successful in
creating value-added services that substantiate users paying subscription
fees, which is a highly desirable business model -- they have created a site
and technology that are truly one of a kind."
The acquisition of Silicon Investor will also give go2net access to its
highly scalable message board technology, which go2net anticipates it will
deploy on its other sites.
About Silicon Investor:
Silicon Investor (http://www.techstocks.com) is one the most successful
communities on the Web. Its proprietary technology permits rapid development
of dynamic Web sites, and includes one of the most scalable platforms
available for threaded discussion.
About go2net:
go2net, Inc. (http://www.go2net.com) is a leader in providing technology-
driven, premier niche Web sites, and develops unique Java technologies.
go2net's properties include: MetaCrawler (http://www.metacrawler.com), a
search/index guide that combines various existing search/index guides into one
service (a "metasearch engine"); PlaySite (http://www.playsite.com), a Java-
based multiplayer online games network; and StockSite
(http://www.stocksite.com), which offers proprietary articles, portfolio
tracking tools, company research and news relating to business and finance.
The Company focuses on creating and integrating innovative technologies to
deliver its content and enhance the attractiveness, utility and usability of
its product offerings.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve risks
and uncertainties, including those relating to the company's ability to grow
its user and advertiser base. Actual results may differ materially from the
results predicted and reported results should not be considered as an
indication of future performance. The potential risks and uncertainties
include, among others, the Company's extremely limited operating history, the
competitive environment in which the Company competes, the early stage of the
Web as an advertising medium, the Company's dependence on advertising revenues
and the Company's dependence on strategic relationships to drive traffic to
its Web sites. More information about the potential factors that could affect
the Company's business and financial results is included in the Company's
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 1997, and
quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 1997, which
are on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
SOURCE go2net, Inc.
/CONTACT: Kirby Winfield, go2net, Inc., 206-447-1595, fax 206-447-1625,
kirby@go2net.com; Jennifer McLean, Insync Communications, 503-412-3642, fax
503-221-6953, jenniferm@insync-pr.com; Jill McKinney, Silicon Investor, Inc.,
913-648-2225, jill@techstocks.com/
/Web site: go2net.com
/Web site: techstocks.com
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Barry |
