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Technology Stocks : Altaba Inc. (formerly Yahoo) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tonyt who wrote (20767)	4/5/1999 8:14:00 AM
From: Rajiv	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 27307

From briefing.com - Yahoo! - The Building of a Champion In recent months, Yahoo's (YHOO) management team has gone out and paid big dollars to acquire a couple of leading Internet brands. The motivating factors behind these transactions were varied, but one big reason the deals got done was that YHOO felt the need to keep up with the likes of America Online (AOL) and At Home (ATHM), which made big splashes of their own in recently acquiring Netscape and Excite, respectively. The Net landscape is changing rapidly and only those companies with nimble and aggressive management teams are likely to emerge on top. In adding Broadcast.com (BCST) and GeoCities (GCTY) for a combined total of nearly $9.6 bln, Briefing.com contends that Yahoo! has assembled the pieces necessary to become/remain the champion of the Net. But anybody familiar with sports, and the failure of high-priced free agents to turn around a franchise, knows that acquiring the pieces is only part of the equation. Chemistry, or in this case Yahoo's ability to successfully integrate GeoCities and Broadcast.com, will determine if the company realizes its potential. The Search Engine that Could Just a few months ago, the street was beginning to wonder whether Yahoo! would be able to go it alone against increasingly tough competition. Without partnering with another firm such as a Time Warner or Fox, the feeling was that YHOO would go down in the history books of the Net as a company that couldn't make the transition from successful search engine to full-service Internet network. But Yahoo! took the bulls by the horn and used the inflated currency of its own stock to make two strategic acquisitions which moved the company far along the path toward becoming a "next generation" network. In GeoCities the company adds the leading brand in personal publishing tools and Web-based communities. With GeoCities operating within the Yahoo! Network, the companies expect to experience an unduplicated reach of better than 58%, making it the second largest network of properties on the Web. The added eyeballs to what was already the most actively trafficed site on the Web will also result in increased leverage with advertisers. Thursday's purchase of Broadcast.com takes the company into the broadband world. By combining the number one content site with the number one streaming media outfit, Yahoo! should succeed in keeping users on their site longer - another key to improving ad revenues. But the deal for Broadcast.com goes way beyond bolstering potential ad dollars, it transends the company to "Internet network" status. Broadcast.com will also give Yahoo! a broader reach in the business to business market, as more than 40% of former's revenues were derived from corporate marketplace. As technology improves, look for more and more companies to use the Net for annual meetings, conferences, etc. In short order, Yahoo! has answered the skeptics. By acting aggressively and shrewdly in snapping up two top Internet brands, Yahoo! not only kept up with the Joneses, but moved a step ahead. Making the Whole As Good As the Parts After the initial excitement over the most recent deal dies down, investors will be left asking whether or not Yahoo's! management team can smoothly incorporate its acquistions and create the energy necessary to stay a leader in the Internet arena. Earlier indications are positive. First, the company is allowing the acquired entities to maintain their identies - thereby leveraging the brand awareness it paid so dearly for. Secondly, Yahoo! didn't let ego get in the way when it came to management decisions, as it retained the executives which made the targeted companies successful in the first place. Will these relationships stand the test of time? Only the future will tell. But at least Yahoo! didn't muck it up from the start. Third, Yahoo's! management has done an excellent job of managing its tremendous growth to date; and in acquiring GeoCities and Broadcast.com management again exhibited the skill, foresight and tenacity required of a true champion.