British Telecommunications PLC announced
Wednesday it was paying $10 million for a 50 percent
stake in Excite’s UK subsidiary, Excite
UK.
The deal is expected to generate more revenue from BT’s Internet
advertising and transaction units and will supplement its Internet access
business. BT plans to capitalize on Excite’s online marketing and sales expertise.
Excite UK said it will gain benefits such as increased access to one of the
fastest growing markets in Europe and utilizing BT’s technology in the
local UK market.
Excite UK will also market Excite Click, powered by BTClick, a combined
pay-as-you-surf UK Internet access service and Web guide, now available on
the Excite UK site.
The Excite UK hub has 12 content categories, including news,
music, sports and search capabilities. Other features include free
Web-based e-mail, communities and shopping.
BT’s Internet offerings include BT Internet, its dial-up Internet access
service, content through the joint venture company LineOne, online services
through BT Click+, multimedia kiosks and “Open,” the interactive TV service
provided by British Interactive Broadcasting.
“Taking a 50 percent share in Excite UK demonstrates BT’s
commitment to the Internet industry and underlines our ambition to help
grow the market and further improve our position within it,” John
Swingewood, BT Internet and multimedia director.
“BT has already announced a number of industry alliances and will continue
to seek out further strategic partnerships. “BT has been very successful in
offering Internet access services and Excite UK further extends our reach
into the important advertising and transactional sectors.
Earlier this month BT teamed with Yahoo!, offering the Yahoo! Click Internet
service, in which BT will provide users with Net access and Web navigation
through Yahoo!’s Web directory. That service is slated to launch at the end
of the month and will be accessible through the Yahoo! UK & Ireland Web
site.
“Our joint venture with BT continues our international strategy of choosing
the best local partner in each market where we want to establish our
business,” said George Bell, chief executive officer of Excite.
“Our expertise in providing compelling, personalized content, married with
BT’s established reputation with UK consumers,
enables us to create a joint venture with Excite UK that has the potential
to take a leading position in the growing UK Internet
market. The UK joint venture follows Excite’s existing international joint
ventures in Australia, Japan and Italy with leading local
companies in each market.”