Broadening recent initiatives recognizing the growing proliferation of multimedia on the Internet, Lycos Inc. and Dell Computer Corp. Friday took a 19 percent stake in Net search company FAST Search & Transfer ASA.
Lycos plans to buy 15 percent of FAST Search & Transfer. Bob Davis,
Lycos president and chief executive officer (LCOS)
will join FAST’s board of directors.
Dell (DELL)
plans to take a 4 percent stake in Fast Search & Transfer.
FAST provides a host of search technologies to the Lycos Network, including
MP3 search, multimedia search music and hosting. Lycos and FAST recently
launched the Listening Room to make it possible for aspiring bands to
upload their music to the Web, convert it to MP3 format, and host and maintain the audio files, for free.
In November, the companies launched Lycos’ RichMedia Search, the largest
multimedia database on the Web with more
than 17 million files. Earlier in the year, Lycos and FAST launched Lycos’
MP3 search, a goldmine of MP3 audio files, and FTP Search, the world’s
biggest and most popular file download site.
“FAST is powering several of our popular services, so today’s announcement
is a natural extension of an
already successful relationship,” said Davis. “By offering FAST’s services
to our users, Lycos continues our tradition
of deploying best-of-breed technology.”
“Having a major high-growth portal like Lycos as a strategic investor and a
customer allows us to gain additional market insight and expose many more
people to our market-leading technology,” said Thomas Fussell, chairman of
Fast Search & Transfer.
The Lycos and Dell investment is expected to close in January.
On Wednesday, Dell invested in PC support company All.com for an
unspecified amount. Last week, Lycos agreed with auction house Skinner to
launch a hybrid Web site that features fine ceramics, couture and jewelry.