Deal Watch - Industry Trend or Event - News Briefs

Industry Standard, The, Jan 15, 2001 by Paul Bonanos

A LULL IN DEALS The holidays kept the past few weeks slow ones for deals. Still, some transactions of note were announced. Hungarian telco Matav bought stakes in two European telecom companies, Maktel and Emitel, for $234 million and $47 million, respectively. The publishing sector also saw some consolidation, as Primedia and Brill's Content publisher Brill Media Holdings merged their media properties into a new company, Media Central. British publisher Pearson also took a 34 percent stake in MarketWatch.com, matching CBS owner Viacom's share of the finance site.

Although venture fundings picked up after New Year's Day, with optical-component maker Network Elements taking the largest round, only four companies raised more than $30 million.

Elsewhere, a month after its partnership with Bertelsmann, Napster struck an alliance with European independent label Edel to distribute its catalog. And Microsoft and MobileStar teamed up to provide wireless Internet connections in Starbucks coffee shops around the country.

                  NET DEAL MONITOR HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
                                    M&A
VALUE [*] DATE    TARGET                   ACQUIRER
$234      Dec. 22 Maktel                   Matav, others
$160      Jan. 4  MicroTouch Systems       3M
$78       Jan. 2  Optranet                 Extreme Networks
$47       Jan. 4  TravelNow.com            Hotel Res. Network
$47       Jan. 2  Emitel Telecommunication Matav, others
$27       Dec. 29 MarketWatch.com          Pearson
$24       Jan. 4  Infinite Technologies    AVT
$21       Jan. 2  InfoWorkSpace            Ezenia
$4        Jan. 4  Guild.com                Ashford.com
n/a       Jan. 4  Brill Media Holdings     Primedia
VALUE [*] THE DEAL
$234      Group takes 51 percent stake in Macedonian telco
$160      Manufacturer acquires maker of touchscreen products
$78       Telecommunications equipment maker buys IP services firm
$47       Two online travel agencies merge
$47       Hungarian telco buys remaining 50 percent of telecom
$27       U.K. publisher buys 34.4 percent stake in financial news site
$24       Voice-messaging service buys wireless application developer
$21       Collaboration services firm buys unit of General Dynamics
$4        High-end gift retailer acquires online art dealer
n/a       Publishers combine media assets
                              VENTURE CAPITAL
VALUE [*] DATE    TARGET                     LEAD INVESTORS
$77       Jan. 4  Network Elements           New Enterprise
$50       Jan. 3  Everest Broadband Networks Exelon
$35       Jan. 3  Zucotto Wireless           Shelter, Baker
$30       Jan. 3  Fiberlink                  Goldman Sachs
$26       Jan. 3  WebTone Technologies       Investor group
$25       Jan. 2  UltraDNS                   Reuters
$23       Jan. 4  Chingari                   Azure
$22       Dec. 28 ActiveSky                  Comverse, Star, JK&B
$21       Jan. 3  CyberSafe                  Oak, Financial Technology
$15       Jan. 2  Caliber Learning Network   Sylvan Fleming US
$14       Jan. 2  PharmasMarket.com          Investor group
$11       Jan. 2  CopiersNow                 The Hillman Group
$11       Jan. 3  iSolve                     Whitney, Canaan
$10       Jan. 3  Appgate                    GE Equity, ABN Amro
$10       Jan. 3  InterNetivity              Venture Investment Mgmt.
VALUE [*] TARGET COMPANY DESCRIPTION
$77       Maker of optical-networking modules
$50       Provider of connectivity services for multi-tenant buildings
$35       Wireless processor technology developer
$30       Virtual private networking company
$26       Multimedia customer-relationship management firm
$25       Directory infrastructure services firm
$23       Collaborative development application service provider
$22       Wireless multimedia content delivery software developer
$21       Online transaction security company
$15       Online learning infrastructure firm
$14       B-to-b pharmaceutical marketplace
$11       Online and wireless office-equipment retailer
$11       Surplus inventory exchange software company
$10       Access-management security firm
$10       Data analysis and reporting software maker
                                PARTNERSHIPS
TYPE         DATE    PARTNERS
Alliance     Dec. 26 Sony/NTT DoCoMo/others
Alliance     Dec. 27 IBM/Manhattan Associates
Alliance     Dec. 28 Intel/Blue Martini Software
Alliance     Jan. 2  Digital Island/NaviSite
Alliance     Jan. 2  PeopleSoft/Sallie Mae
Alliance     Jan. 4  Sprint/Palm
Distribution Dec. 22 Sony/MGI Software
Distribution Dec. 26 Toshiba/IBM Application Framework
Distribution Dec. 28 Bolt/Bell Mobility
Distribution Jan. 2  Napster/Edel Music
Distribution Jan. 3  Flipdog.com/Ticketmaster
Distribution Jan. 3  Microsoft/MobileStar/Starbucks
Distribution Jan. 3  RealNames/VoiceStream Wireless
TYPE         THE DEAL
Alliance     Eleven companies join forces to
             develop electronic money system
             using smartcards
Alliance     Computing giant to develop
             commerce software and services
             with supply systems developer
Alliance     CRM software developer will work
             with chipmaker on product engineering
Alliance     Multimedia content delivery firms
             team to offer Web-based streaming
             media services
Alliance     Higher-education software firm
             and college lender/ASP will offer
             joint services
Alliance     Wireless carrier and handheld
             computer maker will offer
             cobranded wireless services
Distribution MGI's visual media software to
             be bundled with Sony's new
             digital video camcorder line
Distribution Electronics maker partners with
             IBM to create Bluetooth wireless
             mobile stations in Japan
Distribution Teen site's content and services
             will be available on wireless
             Internet service
Distribution Online music-sharing community
             to license independent music
             label's music library
Distribution Jobs directory enters deal to
             power online ticketing and
             entertainment site's career center
Distribution Software giant will provide
             wireless broadband connectivity
             in coffee shops
Distribution Keyword-specific search engine
             will be offered to wireless
             service provider's customers
(*.)IN MILLIONS.
SOURCE: COMMSCAN AND THE STANDARD FROM PRESS RELEASES AND NEWS REPORTS

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Deal Watch - Industry Trend or Event - News Briefs

Industry Standard, The, Jan 15, 2001 by Paul Bonanos

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