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  3. High-speed Internet provider At Home Corp. is buying Excite Inc., one of the leading destinations on the World Wide Web, for abo

High-speed Internet provider At Home Corp. is buying Excite Inc., one of the leading destinations on the World Wide Web, for abo

admin2010-05-25  73
问题      High-speed Internet provider At Home Corp. is buying Excite Inc., one of the leading destinations on the World Wide Web, for about $ 6.7 billion in stock in one of the largest Internet company deals. The deal announced today would surpass America Online Inc.’ s $ 4.2 billion acquisition of Netscape Communications Corp. last year. Based on closing stock prices Friday, Excite is worth about $ 3. 4 billion, which would mean that At Home would be paying a huge premium. The deal could eventually give telecommunications giant AT&T Corp. control of one of the highly sought-after portals that serve as entry points onto the Internet.
     At Home is owned by Tele-Communications Inc., Cox Communications and several other investors. TCI is in the process of merging with AT&T Corp. in a $ 39 billion deal that is expected to be completed by spring. AT&T Corp. chief executive Michael Armstrong has stated he wants to use At Home as a conduit for delivering a wide range of communications services, including electronic commerce. Control over Excite, which has a search engine and links to several online shopping sites, would certainly enhance that goal. Excite, which has lagged behind other Web-site companies, such as Yahoo!, has been looking for a larger partner in the rapidly consolidating Internet portal market, especially in wake of the AOL-Netscape deal. Several other companies had been rumored to be interested in Excite, including Yahoo! Inc. and Microsoft Corp. Negotiations between Yahoo! and Excite broke off this weekend, according to published reports.
     Excite, eager to extend its reach and market power, was attracted by an alliance with AT&T and TCI. Excite’s shareholders are expected to own about 30 percent of the combined company, which would be known as At Home Networks. Excite chief executive George Bell would take a position on the new company’s executire board, reporting to At Home chief executive Tom Jermoluk. At Home, which delivers high-speed Internet service over cable TV lines, has more than 330 000 customers. The deal would give it access to Excite’s more than 20 million registered users and to the company’s content-development. capabilities. Both companies are located in Redwood City, Calif. At Home, whose stock has risen nearly 300 percent over the past year, has the money to make a deal, Michael Harris, president of Kinetic Strategies Inc. told MSNBC." With At Home’s existing stock valuation (of about $11.7 billion), it’s been surprising they haven’t done more deals. They’ve certainly got a huge war chest built up."
     Neither company has yet made a profit. In the three months ended Sep. 30, Excite lost $6.8 million on revenue of $44 million, including acquisition and amortization expenses. In the same period, At Home lost $ 9.7 million.
How does AT&T fit into the picture of the At Home-Excite deal?
选项 A、Excite has been dealing with AT&T for some time.
B、AT&T and At Home has been running At Home Networks jointly.
C、AT&T is about to ally with TCI, the owner of At Home.
D、AT&T runs Internet, of which Excite is an important user.
答案C
解析 细节理解题。根据第二段第一句，At Home是TCU、Cox Communications和其他几家投资者组建的公司。第二句又提到，TCI正在准备与AT&T合并，买卖达390亿美元，预期今春完成联手。所以，第一段最后一句、第二段第三句都提到了AT&T对这场交易的反应。根据第三段第二句，At Home Networks是购买Excite后打算组建的新公司的名称。
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