| PASADENA,
Calif.- Overture
Services, Inc. (Nasdaq: OVER - News), a global leader
in commercial search services on the Internet, today
announced that it has completed the acquisition
of the business of AltaVista Company, a pioneer
in Web search technology. In accordance with the
terms of the acquisition agreement announced on
February 18, 2003, Overture
acquired the AltaVista business for $106.6 million
($60 million in cash and approximately 4.275 million
shares of Overture common stock, with a value of
$46.6 million based on the closing share price on
April 25, 2003).
This
acquisition, combined with Overture's recently
completed acquisition of the Web search unit of
Fast Search & Transfer (FAST), will enable
Overture
to offer a full-service search solution to portals,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and other destination
sites. Additionally, Overture
will be able to provide its growing base of 88,000
advertisers access to new sources of distribution
and products, such as paid inclusion, to drive
additional targeted leads. Overture
plans to develop a common platform for its new
Web search product before the end of 2003 and
will continue to operate both AltaVista and FAST's
search engines separately until that time.
"With
the successful acquisitions of AltaVista and FAST's
Web search unit, Overture
is well-positioned to create the most powerful
and comprehensive search capability on the Internet,"
said Ted Meisel, president and chief executive
officer, Overture
Services. "We are now stepping up our integration
efforts and making appropriate investments to
build the next generation of search."
As
part of today's announcement, Overture
also made a series of management appointments
related to the acquisitions:
Jim
Barnett, formerly AltaVista's chief executive
officer, will lead Overture's
Web search efforts and will report to Overture's
Meisel.
Fred Bullock, formerly AltaVista's senior vice
president and chief marketing officer, will direct
site management and marketing for Overture's
Web search efforts and will report to Barnett.
John
Ellis, formerly AltaVista's senior vice president
of engineering and operations, will oversee those
same areas for Overture's
Web search efforts and will report to Barnett.
Since
its founding in 1995, Internet search pioneer
AltaVista has become a leading global provider
of search services and technology and has also
been awarded the most search-related patents in
the industry. As part of the acquisition, Overture
has assumed AltaVista's 58 search technology patents
and other patent-pending applications.
The
securities that were issued in connection with
the acquisition of AltaVista have not been registered
under the Securities Act of 1933, and may not
be offered or sold in the United States absent
registration, or an applicable exemption from
the registration requirements, under the Securities
Act of 1933.
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