Ask Jeeves acquisition boosts shares
5 March 2004
Shares in search engine Ask Jeeves soared by as much as 43 per cent yesterday after the company announced it would buy rival Interactive Search Holdings Inc for about $328 million.
Ask.com plans to take on search giants Yahoo and Google by acquiring the owner of search Web sites iWon, Excite and My Search.
The acquisition will double Ask Jeeves' market share to seven per cent and the company expects it will almost triple profits.
"The acquisition of Interactive Search Holdings will be an important step in Ask Jeeves' growth strategy. This acquisition will double our market share, enhance our ability to compete in the fast-growing search market, and is expected to increase the financial returns to our shareholders," Steve Berkowitz, CEO of Ask Jeeves, said.
California-based Ask Jeeves announced that it will issue 9.3 million shares of common stock and options and pay $150 million in cash for Interactive Search Holdings. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2004.
Interactive Search had 700 million searches in the fourth quarter of 2003, compared with 680 million for Ask Jeeves. The company - better known as The Excite Network - ran the 12th busiest group of Web sites in January.
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