Search engine giant Inktomi Corp. made a major move in the enterprise market
Thursday with its purchase of search software specialist Ultraseek Corp. for
$344.7 million in cash and stock.
“Ultraseek has long been considered one of the most polished enterprise solutions, but has perennially suffered from being part of first Infoseek and then Disney/Go,” Edelstein said. “These companies put most of their focus in the consumer space. The addition of a strong enterprise search product to Inktomi’s lineup forges a strong new tie between Inktomi’s enterprise Traffic Server business and its powerful Search Engine brand.”
Inktomi will acquire all of Ultraseek in exchange for $3.5 million
in cash and Inktomi common stock worth $341.2 million. Of the total
consideration, $317.5 million will be provided to GO.com.
Inktomi grabbed the Go.com subsidiary to build on
its search capabilities in the enterprise market. Ultraseek provides a
scalable and customizable search and navigation software solution to
businesses for their corporate intranet and extranet sites.
With the addition of Ultraseek, Inktomi can better address the growing
enterprise information portal market with an efficient packaged search
solution. Inktomi said it recognizes that companies demand fast search
methods as a standard for their corporate intranet and extranet data.
“Our move into the enterprise market sets the agenda for the delivery of
search and navigation software for intranet and extranet
sites,” said David Peterschmidt, president and chief executive officer of
Inktomi.
GO.com Chairman Steve Bornstein said the deal demonstrates GO.com’s
commitment to focus on and enhance its position as a leading provider of
consumer entertainment, information and services on the Internet.
Acknowledging that Ultraseek’s software is better suited for Inktomi’s
strategy than for Go.com’s “consumer-oriented strategy,” Bornstein said the
play was a “win-win” sitaution for both sides. Bornstein said GO.com will
retain its consumer search technology and services, which are integral
components of its leading Web properties such as the GO.com portal, ESPN.com
and Disney.com.
The transaction is expected to close in the September quarter. Ultraseek will operate under the Inktomi name
with all employees of Ultraseek joining Inktomi.
Alex Edelstein, president of Viralon Corp. annd former general manager of Inktomi’s search business called the deal a “powerful one.”
Edelstein said he expected Inktomi to step out aggressively with Ultraseek and boost its market share.
“I also expect Inktomi to develop new integration between its Internet Search and Shopping services and Ultraseek, enabling companies to merge their Internet and Intranet search capabilities.”
Inktomi last inked major deals in March when it unleashed a broad initiative to deliver
infrastructure software to wireless data operators.
The push into wireless content delivery is part of Inktomi’s new portal
services and network products. The Internet infrastructure software
developer also locked-up six new alliances to help expand its reach into the
wireless marketplace.
