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

To: B. A. Marlow who wrote (905)	3/22/1999 2:04:00 AM
From: neverenough	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1260

Here's an interesting take on Cuban and BCST, Broadcast.com Gets Bought! (NASDAQ: BCST) March 21, 1999 by Kevin Prigel -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Business Week this week speculates about a Yahoo acquisition of Broadcast.com. This idea is certainly not new (in fact we speculated about the takeover appeal of Broadcast back on January 20), but this is the first time the popular press has picked up the story. The Street Advisor is here to offer you the Dallas insiders scoop that Business Week can not. I first met Mark Cuban (CEO of Broadcast) towards the middle of January. Only a few days prior he had officially become a billionaire (although it was for a brief stint). On this morning the period known as the lock-up had ended. That means that insiders who are locked up from selling after an IPO can finally do so. Mark however was in an odd position. His stock was down almost 50% from its high a few days before and he was still preaching the power of his portal. Broadcast, with only a few billion dollar market cap, as surely worth more. But he wanted out. He wouldn't admit that in public, or to an analyst, but friends knew he wanted out. So what's an Internet CEO that wants out to do? The answer is an acquisition, a simple plan really. Get eaten up by someone with stability (AOL would be the most likely choice, although Yahoo may offer a heftier premium), then slowly sell out with no one noticing. Mark could then retire back to California (or Highland Park should he choose to stay in Dallas-Fort Worth), Broadcast.com shareholders could continue to get rich with AOL or Yahoo, and everyone could go on their happy way. There's nothing bad about his intentions. Mr. Cuban helped build Broadcast into what it is today. Without him the service would have stuck with broadcasting high school basketball games. All founders retire at some point, just he has the opportunity a little earlier. Broadcast will be a much larger force within an existing portal. That will give the service the user base, capital, and new connections they need to beat CMGI's well funded venture. Plus, before joining that larger service there could be a major bidding war going on. AOL and Yahoo realize that this is the one piece of the puzzle that they are missing. Without Broadcast broadband could mean death for either, with Broadcast it means a whole new avenue of growth. So merge away Broadcast.com, we're happy with the run so far, should be even happier with an acquisition premium, and will be happy inside whatever smart portal (preferably AOL) eats us up. streetadvisor.com