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Excite@Home acquisition
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October 25, 1999: 10:00 a.m. ET
Broadband portal paying $780M for bluemountain.com greeting card site
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Excite@Home said Monday it plans to acquire Blue Mountain Arts Publishing Co.'s Bluemountain.com Internet greeting card site for nearly $780 million in cash and stock.
Terms of the agreement call for Excite@Home (ATHM) to issue approximately 11 million shares, valued at about $430 million, and $350 million in cash. Excite@Home also will assume all outstanding employee options, and the company said it expects the deal to close before the end of 1999.
Excite@Home said the acquisition will increase its audience reach 34 percent, create additional electronic commerce transactions through greeting cards sent to Internet users and, with the addition of Bluemountain.com's nine million unique monthly users, will allow it to attract new subscribers to its @Home consumer broadband service.
"Perhaps more than any other site on the Web, Bluemountain.com has done an incredible job of creating viral growth around occasion-driven commerce; they are the undisputed leader in the electronic greeting card space," said George Bell, president of Excite@Home.
"Now, every greeting card represents an event-based commerce opportunity. By leveraging our targeting technologies, we expect to bring the Blue Mountain community the right purchasing opportunities at the right time associated with their greeting card selections," Bell said.
Excite@Home said that, depending on its traffic strength, reach and other performance targets, it may pay an additional $270 million that will be issued in shares of Excite@Home.
Internet Web audience measurement firm Media Metrix has rated Bluemountain.com 14th most-trafficked Web site for the month of September; Excite@Home ranks number six. Among e-commerce sites, Bluemountain.com is in the number three position. 
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