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Technology Stocks : MSGI Marketing Services Group Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stock_bull69 who wrote (879)	5/15/1999 9:02:00 AM
From: Mackcrab	Respond to of 3418

Here is another article on MSGI May 14, 1999 Dow Jones Newswires Marketing Svcs Grp Up 3% On CMGI Deal, ING Barings Rating Dow Jones Newswires NEW YORK -- Marketing Services Group Inc. (MSGI) continued to trade higher Friday, as investors showed confidence in the company's purchase of CMGI Inc.'s (CMGI) CMG Direct Corp. unit. Also, ING Barings analyst David B. Doft initiated coverage of marketing Services on Friday with a buy rating, saying the now-completed purchase, first announced March 10, transforms the marketing-services company into an Internet investment vehicle. "With this acquisition, Marketing Services now totally kind of branches out to Internet marketing and the Internet in general," Doft said. Before the market's open, the company announced the completion of the CMG Direct purchase, adding that CMGI Inc. has become a more than 10% minority shareholder of Marketing Services under terms of the deal. Other financial terms weren't disclosed. In addition, Marketing Services said current investor GE Equity, a unit of General Electric Co.'s (GE) GE Capital, agreed to provide $10 million in short-term debt financing for the purchase. Jeremy Barbera, chairman and chief executive of Marketing Services, attributed positive investor reaction to the purchase, in part, to the solid reputations of CMGI and GE Capital. "I think it's frankly who are partners are," he said. "We have so much resources to draw on. Some of the risk has been removed by just who has joined us." The executive said Marketing Services plans to make immediate investments in growing Internet companies. "We're looking for Web tools, new e-commerce applications," he said. "We're looking for businesses that have strong synergistic ties to what we do now." Barbera added that the company plans a secondary offering later this year to raise additional funds. Doft acknowledged obvious comparisons between Marketing Services and CMGI, which also invests in Internet companies. CMGI shares, which traded as low as 16 5/8 last June, recently changed hands at 228, down 10 1/16. "The potential is there, but where this stock goes is based on what investments management makes, and how it proceeds," he said. Doft didn't set a target price on Marketing Services's shares, citing the stock's volatility. Marketing Services recently traded at 39, up 1 5/8, or 4.3%, on volume of 1.7 million shares, compared with average volume of 1.1 million shares. The company's stock has risen since the deal with CMG Direct was announced, closing at 8 11/16 on March 10 and reaching a 52-week high of 60 1/8 on April 13. -By Colleen DeBaise; 201-938-5400 Briefing Book for: CMGI \| GE \| MSGI