In a continuation of its rapid buying spree, Internet incubator CMGI Inc. Thursday bought auction site uBid.com in a stock exchange worth $407
million.
CMGI will issue .2628 CMGI shares for every share of uBid.com held on the
closing date of the transaction. Upon closing, uBid.com will become a
majority-owned operating company of CMGI (CMGI).
uBid.com (UBID)
serves both the business-to-business and business-to-consumer sectors.
Toward the B2C end, the auctions let consumers set their own prices on
popular products at discounts. For the B2B market, uBid.com auctions provide
leading suppliers such as Sony (SNY),
IBM Corp. (IBM) and
Hewlett Packard (HWP),
with an efficient channel for selling extra items.
uBid.com’s auctions feature a rotating selection of brand name items in 12
fields or “stores”: computers; monitors, printers and more; consumer
electronics; home & leisure; sports ad recreation; jewelry & gifts;
off-lease computers; clothing and apparel; home improvements; art;
appliance; and travel and events.
CMGI hopes to proffer uBid’s auction technology to a number of companies
within its network, specifically B2C and B2B e-commerce companies that can
distribute inventory through uBid.com. Additionally, CMGI will blend
uBid.com’s auction and merchandising capabilities into the enterprise arena
through its network of B2B affiliates, such as MyWay.com.
“Online auctions, both B2C and B2B, are one of the fastest-growing areas of
the Internet, and uBid.com has distinguished itself in the market with
highly differentiated merchandising and inventory management capabilities
that will prove hugely valuable as this model scales for the future,” said
David Wetherell, CMGI’s chairman and chief executive officer.
CMGI has snapped up a number of advertising companies in recent months. Earlier this week, CMGI purchased a 5 percent stake in business-to-business Net firm divine interVentures inc.
