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Technology Stocks : Broadcast.com (Acquired by Yahoo) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brian K Crawford who wrote (834)	3/19/1999 5:53:00 PM
From: Boplicity	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1260

HERE IT IS---> Is Yahoo! Ready to Rack Up Broadcast.com? BW Online has learned that the acquisitive portal in is talks to buy the streaming media outfit Yahoo! Inc. hasn't even closed its $4.7 billion stock purchase of GeoCities Inc., announced in January. But that isn't stopping the leading Web-based portal from continuing its shopping spree. Sources say Santa Clara (Calif.)-based Yahoo! is hot to snap up Broadcast.com Inc., the Dallas-based provider of streaming audio and video on the Internet. One source familiar with the discussions says Yahoo! senior managers, including CEO Timothy A. Koogle and Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang, have been meeting with Broadcast.com execs abouts a possible acquisition. Yahoo!, which already has a small minority stake in Broadcast.com, would have to pay a pretty penny to get the deal done. Shares of Broadcast.com have soared in the last four months, giving the three-year-old company a current market valuation of nearly $3 billion. But Yahoo! -- valued at a mindboggling $35 billion -- certainly has the stock to do the deal, even at a hefty premium. Neither company would comment. BUDDY SYSTEM. Analysts say a combination between the two makes sense. With its 35 million registered users and a reach of nearly 50% of the Internet-surfing population, Yahoo! is eager to build the most comprehensive, media-rich service on the Web. So Broadcast.com's infrastructure, relationships with radio, television, and cable stations, and its ability to deliver everything from music to sports programming would go a long way toward helping Yahoo! go beyond its current offerings, largely text-based. What's more, says a source, management at both companies genuinely seem to like each another. "They've linked sites for a long time," says the source. "They have a very good working relationship." Indeed, Koogle said of Broadcast.com in a Mar. 18 interview with Business Week: "They are good guys, and we like them a lot." Koogle declines further comment. Yahoo! isn't alone in its pursuit. Rival America Online and NBC are also taking a look at Broadcast.com, according to a source. Neither company would comment. But having other suiters in the mix could complicate reaching a final deal. Greg