John Lewell

[London, ENGLAND] Cable & Wireless Tuesday acquired five Internet-related businesses in Europe in deals worth more than $100 million. Cable & Wireless says the five companies will add $40 million to its annual revenues in Europe as well as bring in 30,000 more customers. Spread across Europe, the five companies are French ISP Pictime; German […]

[London, ENGLAND] European publishing company VNU has agreed to acquire conference organizer Miller Freeman USA from United News & Media for $650 million. The sale excludes the CMP Media division of Miller-Freeman which publishes the Web sites IT Planet and TechWeb. United’s divestment of Miller Freeman USA is part of its efforts to re-focus its […]

[London, ENGLAND] Vertical sites portal operator About, Inc. announced Tuesday the launch of About UK, a new site that features online guides specific to the United Kingdom. For example, among the extensive offerings on About UK are such topics as: British Theatre, Top 40 Music, Royalty, Scottish Culture, and Northwest England. Formerly The Mining Co., […]

[London, ENGLAND] European travel specialist ebookers.com announced Monday that a combination of good results and extra funding that caused a sharp upward correction in its share price. ebookers.com reported a massive second quarter 2000 sales hike. Q2 sales were $30 million, an increase of 839 percent compared to Q2 1999 ($3.3 million). At the same […]

[London, ENGLAND] Coca-Cola Great Britain and QXL.com plc announced Monday their joint development of what they are calling a “revolutionary cashless online auction.” The new auction service, to be launched in August, will allow Coca-Cola consumers to bid for items over the Internet without needing a credit card to pay for them. Instead, consumers will […]

[London, ENGLAND] Enron Broadband Services, Internet subsidiary of energy company Enron, announced Friday the introduction of its broadband services to Europe. Headquartered in London, Enron’s European operations will be run by Steven Elliott with an initial staff of around 50 employees. Enron’s broadband services were demonstrated recently when they were used to Webcast the Wimbledon […]

[London, ENGLAND] World trade platform bolero.net announced Friday that four more companies have joined its partner program, aimed at extending the secure trading facilities offered to users. The four companies — CSI Complex Systems, E Net, Level Next and Sopra — all provide software services that will help companies connect to the Bolero system and […]

[London, ENGLAND] European research-driven investment group Durlacher Corporation Plc announced Thursday the formation of App-X, with $16 million funding, to provide support to Application Service Providers (ASPs). The emergence of the ASP market over the past 18 months has been tracked closely by analysts at Durlacher. Getting in on the act itself, Durlacher has formed […]

[London, ENGLAND] On Europe’s Neuer Markt, shares in Austrian software developer Update.com AG slumped Thursday after a report that second quarter sales were lower than expected. At one point, the shares had lost over half their value, dropping to below $6, the biggest decline since Update.com went public in April this year. A prominent developer […]

[London, ENGLAND] Late deals company lastminute.com announced Wednesday technology partnerships with Epiphany, whereonearth.com, and NCorp with the aim of improving its customer offerings. From Epiphany, lastminute.com will get an integrated suite of real-time analytics, campaign management and personalization solutions. It hopes this technology will help it better understand its customers and provide a more personalized […]

[London, ENGLAND] Hutchison Whampoa announced Wednesday it will sell some of its mobile phone holdings to Japan’s NTT DoCoMo and Holland’s KPN Mobile in a joint effort to capture a share of Europe’s third generation (3G) mobile market. “Europe will be next after Japan to implement UMTS and will provide an opportunity for us to […]

[London, ENGLAND] ICO-Teledesic Global announced Tuesday that investors including Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), Eagle River, and Bill Gates have agreed to back its satellite communications venture with $1 billion. Private equity investor CD&R will put $350 million into the satellite venture pioneered by Craig McCaw, the founder of Teledesic and now chairman of both […]