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GeoCities gets big backing
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January 5, 1998: 2:13 p.m. ET
Web community draws $25M investment from Softbank, $5M from Yahoo!
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Free Web page provider GeoCities said Monday it expects to receive $25 million in new investment from Softbank Holdings Inc. and is planning a new partnership with Web search-engine firm Yahoo!
Softbank, a Japanese software and computer retailer, will invest $25 million in return for an undisclosed equity stake in Geocities. Softbank has invested in a number of top technology and Internet properties, including Yahoo! The company currently owns 36 percent of Yahoo!.
In addition to its publishing holdings, Softbank's aim is to carve a niche in Internet publishing. Softbank and Yahoo! previously partnered to launch a Japanese version of the popular web search engine.
At the same time, GeoCities said Yahoo! will purchase a $5 million equity stake that would be covered by issuing new common shares. In exchange, Yahoo! said it will bring GeoCities increased page traffic and a variety of free, personalized Yahoo! services to Internet users who publish Web pages on GeoCities.
"This agreement between GeoCities and Yahoo! aligns two of the top five sites on the Internet and will vastly increase the amount of traffic and new [websites] on GeoCities," said David Bohnett, GeoCities' founder and chief executive officer.
"Our partnership, along with $25 million in additional funding, will allow us to expand on our strategy of providing a wealth of personalized services for our members and visitors along with a high-quality, community-based platform for our advertisers and sponsors," he said.
GeoCities will provide websites to registered Yahoo! members. Yahoo! will also market GeoCities' services throughout its website.
GeoCities users will also be eligible for a variety of free services from Yahoo!, such as free e-mail, chat, message boards, financial portfolios and classified advertising.
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