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Technology Stocks : MessageMedia Inc. (MESG) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Leslie Tack who wrote (108)	6/10/1999 1:49:00 PM
From: Gutterball	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 553

INTERVIEW-MessageMedia to focus on growth By Nadja Rogoszynski NEW YORK, June 10 (Reuters) - E-mail services company MessageMedia Inc. (Nasdaq:MESG) has recently been following an aggressive acquisition strategy, putting the immediate focus on growth versus profitability. ''In the .com arena, growth and market capitalization take priority over immediate profitability,'' said Larry Jones, president and chief executive officer. MessageMedia, a company with a market capitalization of $527.8 million -- based on today's stock value of about $13 a share and 40.6 million shares outstanding -- said Thursday it intends on buying Decisive Technology, an Internet market research firm, for $50 million in stock. This announcement came a day after its $46 million acquisition of privately-held Revnet Systems Inc., a maker of software that directs e-mail on certain subjects to designated users on a computer network. ''With these two acquisitions, we have essentially tripled the size of our company,'' said Jones, who did not comment on the two purchased companies' exact revenue bases. Jones believes that the company's most recent acquisitions will have little impact on earnings per share but said, ''It (the acquisitions) will not help us become profitable but it will help us grow.'' MessageMedia reported 1999 first quarter revenues of $750,000 and a loss of $7 million, including a restructuring charge of $1 million related to merger integration and relocation of the company's headquarters to Boulder, Colo. from San Diego. Jones said MessageMedia has been focusing on three types of acquisitions, including companies that are active in the same niche as MessageMedia. He mentioned privately-held Digital Impact, Exactis and Post, businesses that help create dialogue between businesses and customers through newsletter delivery, for example. In addition, the company plans on acquiring operations that focus on new applications of e-mail, including e-mail surveys, such as Decisive does. And lastly, companies that provide new technologies are on MediaMessage's purchase list. ''Aggressive acquisition has been underway for quite some time now. You'll be seeing more of this,'' said Jones. Shares were up 2-5/16 at 13-1/3 on Thursday after rising 17 percent during intra-day on Wednesday.