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Technology Stocks : Netscape -- Giant Killer or Flash in the Pan? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dorine Essey who wrote (4728)	11/24/1998 9:12:00 AM
From: Gerald Thomas	Respond to of 4903

It's Official! AOL Buys Netscape By TED BRIDIS Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - America Online said today it will buy Netscape in a $4.21 billion deal that would effectively conclude Netscape's dramatic rise and fall as an Internet software pioneer. The agreement also includes Sun Microsystems Inc. (Nasdaq:SUNW - news) The agreement also cements AOL's position as a new superpower in the high-tech world, giving it remarkable reach and enough influence to challenge industry giant Microsoft's dominance in key areas. ''The acquisition of Netscape is a big step forward for America Online that will greatly accelerate our business momentum,'' AOL Chairman Steve Case said. ''Netscape has played a key role in helping consumers benefit from the enormous power of the Internet, and we share the same mission.'' AOL becomes the world's largest Internet provider, the distributor of Netscape's hugely popular browser software and the owner of two of the four most popular sites on the Web. Netscape's site alone draws 20 million visitors each month. The other three most popular sites are operated by AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo!. Under the deal, AOL, based just outside Washington in Dulles, Va., is expected to operate Netscape as a separate division in Mountain View, Calif. But the 4-year-old company whose software popularized the Internet - and whose dramatic debut on the stock market was among the most successful ever - would cease to exist as an independent entity. ''This exciting partnership enables us to deliver even better and more complete products and services to both existing and new customers,'' said Netscape Chief Executive Officer James Barksdale, who will join AOL's board of directors under the agreement. Netscape shareholders will receive .45 shares of AOL stock for each of the 99.5 million outstanding shares of Netscape stock. In a three-year deal, Sun Microsystems Inc. will distribute Netscape's business-level ''server'' software, and AOL will use Sun's Java programming technology - which lets programs run on a variety of types of computers - to offer AOL services on what the company called ''next-generation Internet devices.'' Earlier Stories