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CEOs see high-speed portal
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January 19, 1999: 1:33 p.m. ET
$6.7B Excite-@Home deal pairs Web content, high-speed access for consumers
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The top two executives behind the Internet-related betrothal of @Home Corp. and Excite Inc. said Tuesday their deal is a step along the path to one-stop billing in a new high-speed Web world.
George Bell, chairman and chief executive officer of Excite (XCIT), a World Wide Web portal, and Thomas Jermoluk, chairman and CEO of the cable-line provider of high-speed Internet access @Home (ATHM), insist their $6.7 billion deal unveiled Tuesday will be a boon for consumers and shareholders.
Aside from the whopping 57 percent premium the bid gives Excite shareholders, based on Friday's close, the merger pairs the portal with a top provider of high-speed, broadband, Internet access -- one backed by top cable operators including Cox Communications Inc. (COX), Comcast Corp. (CMCSK), Cablevision Systems (CVC), and Tele-Communications Inc. (TCOMA) -- soon to be bought by AT&T Corp (T).
For its part, @Home vaults more deeply into cyberspace in a deal with one of the best-known content providers on the Web. Excite said it has more than 17 million unique visits each month.
"The synergies of the companies are terrific," said Jermoluk, in an interview with CNNfn Tuesday, shortly after the deal was announced. "I think shareholders will look at that together and say 'one and one makes 10 here.'"
Jermoluk said the new year will be a watershed for broadband communications -- and @Home needed to expand its name recognition prior to that. (152K WAV) or (152K AIFF)
Bell said his "notion" behind the planned merger was to assist consumers, while helping Excite survive as a media and content provider in an increasingly cluttered cyberspace. He laid out three touchstones behind the deal.
"One is we believe broadband will win. Always-on, high-speed access to the Web is what people want," Bell said. "The second is that the platform of distribution that sits behind @Home -- the partnership of AT&T, TCI, Cox, Comcast and Cablevision -- was a very powerful footprint in which to grow."
Finally -- and perhaps most importantly for consumers -- the Excite-@Home link-up will facilitate electronic commerce by providing an important billing mechanism for cyber-shoppers, Bell said.
"The third strategic reason we saw is this notion we can enable commerce more quickly through Excite because @Home has billing relationships with its customers," he said.
As part of the merger, Bell will become the new company's CEO, while Jermoluk will hold the post of chairman. 
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