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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  101
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.
Excite is eager to join such powerful companies as AT&T and TCI because ______.
选项 A、it is at a competitive disadvantage in the Internet market
B、it expects to expand its shareholding over AT&T and TCI
C、it wishes to expand its coverage of online shopping sites
D、it is about to go bankrupt and has to sell itself
答案A
解析 细节理解题。第二段第五句提到，Excite已落后于像Yahoo这样的网络公司，所以正在寻找一个更强大的合作伙伴第三段第一句提到，因为Excite急于想扩大自己的买卖，扩展自己的市场能力，很热衷于同AT&T和TCI的联合。
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