British Telecom has announced that it is to buy a 50% share in US-based Excite Inc’s British subsidiary, Excite UK. The agreement will further BT’s presence in internet advertising and transactions and brings it firmly into competition with the big Net names like Yahoo, Netscape Netcentre, Microsoft Network and America Online (AOL).
Earlier today, AOL announced that it is buy Netscape for £2.55 billion, making the combined group a much stronger force in the internet industry (see Internet Wars Hot Up In AOL Deal For Netscape).
Excite UK is also marketing Excite Click, powered by BT Click, which was launched earlier this year (see Newsline). Click is a combined pay-as-you-surf UK internet access service and web-guide.
George Bell, chief executive of Excite Inc. said of the joint venture: “Our expertise in providing compelling, personalised content, married with BT’s established reputation with UK consumers, enables us to create a joint venture with Excite UK that has the potential to take a leading position in the growing UK internet market.”
BT: 0171 492 8470 Excite Inc: 0171 447 1803
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