While CMGI has consolidated operations at several of its operating companies, it will not tamper with NaviSite, its Web and applications hosting firm.
“CMGI will continue to support NaviSite’s accelerated growth, including the exploration of new strategic partnerships that can provide added reach and scale, but
we have no plans to consolidate any of our existing businesses into NaviSite at this time,” said David Wetherell, CMGI’s chairman and CEO.
Wetherell said he was pleased with NaviSite’s customer and revenue growth since going public last fall. He also touted a new partnership with NTT Data, Japan’s
largest systems integrator, and Pacific Century CyberWork’s HKT subsidiary to co-develop and offer co-branded, managed services in Japan and Hong Kong.
The
deals will help NaviSite, which like its parent company is based in Andover, expand internationally and improve its bottom line, Wetherell said.
The vote of confidence for NaviSite is the latest in a string of announcements by CMGI intended to clarify its leaner, profit-driven structure and to reassure investors
who have been dumping the stock for months. It comes two weeks after the company took the unusual step of issuing a press release saying it had enough cash to
run its companies for two years.
It also follows a spate of restructuring moves that have included layoffs and consolidations at AltaVista, Engage and MyWay.com. Following
the makeover, CMGI’s majority-owned operating companies and its venture capital arm will be aligned into six business lines, with a stated goal of reducing the
number of operating companies, currently 17, to five to 10.
In a separate announcement, NaviSite said it will introduce five new services to help companies align their system performance with business objectives; rapidly move from concept to implementation; deploy an optimal infrastructure; and reduce the risks associated with launching a new Internet site.
Shares of were down .25, or a little more than 1 percent, to 18.438 Monday morning. They have plummeted from a 52-week
high of 163.5 before the April correction and are near the low of 16.375. Meanwhile, perked up on the news. Shares were up .75,
or 7 percent, to 12.312.