go2net, Inc. a provider of technology and community-driven Web sites, acquired Hypermart, a provider of free Web hosting for businesses.
The transaction is being accounted for as a pooling of interests. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Hypermart, which reportedly serves over 60,000 member businesses from approximately 175 countries, said it is growing at a rate of approximately 400 new member businesses per day, and has over 200,000 unique users per day. In addition to the free Web hosting services, Hypermart offers its member businesses an upgraded subscription service.
“Since its launch, Hypermart’s membership and usage have grown
tremendously,” said Russell C. Horowitz, go2net’s CEO. “We see an
opportunity to leverage go2net’s sales, operational, technical and production
infrastructure to both continue Hypermart’s rapid growth and capitalize on
the resulting commercial opportunities.”
go2net, Inc. offers a network of technology and community-driven Web sites focused on personal finance, search, commerce, and games, and also develops Web-related software.
The combination of go2net’s existing sites and Hypermart creates a
consolidated go2net network that is estimated by Relevant Knowledge (as of June 1998) to be the 37th most trafficked site on the Web based on measurement of unique visitors.