Internet

Amazon races to bottoms for retail domination

8 Nov 2010

Eager to keep feeding its huge distribution network, the online vendor is paying $545 million for Quidsi, the owner of Diapers.com and Soap.com. Though it will only add about 1 pct of sales, these humble staples should help Amazon get a firmer grip on consumer wallets.

Netflix clangs death knell for the lowly DVD

21 Oct 2010

The video rental service says its customers will watch more content through online streaming than from mailed DVDs by the end of the year. While the disk is dying rapidly, Netflix has made the tricky switch and is thriving. Now it just has to see off a whole new slew of rivals.

Yahoo chief’s grip is slipping

14 Oct 2010

Carol Bartz wants to fix the Internet group s US business. With few signs her plan is working, investors are increasingly focused on the company s valuable Asian holdings, which Bartz is loath to sell. A big value gap and growing impatience mean outsiders may do the job for her.

Google starts to benefit from mobile surge

14 Oct 2010

The Internet search giant s sales jumped 25 pct in the third quarter from a year earlier. The knock against the company is an overdependence on web advertising. But it is finding new growth. The market for ads on mobile devices is young, but it is already reinvigorating Google.

Facebook stake not the only charm of Mail.ru IPO

11 Oct 2010

The Russian internet group will raise $500 million in a London IPO that would give it a $3.3$5 billion valuation. At the right price, it could be a rare chance to tap into a booming market, with the added allure of the 2.4 percent Facebook stake owned by the listed entity.

Betfair: a fair bet, or priced for perfection?

7 Oct 2010

The UK's dominant online betting exchange is listing in London. It seems like an investor's dream: Betfair throws off cash, and has technology which is scalable and hard to replicate. But do these glittering prospects really make it worth 33 times last year's EBITDA?

Art imitates Wall Street in Dealbreaker.com sale

4 Oct 2010

The Internet site that thrives on skewering the financial set finds itself in an ironically Wall Streetstyle pickle. Its owner wants to sell, but its editor wants more of the spoils. It s like a big dumb bank buying a securities firm employees get the rewards or they walk.

AOL’s spending spree doesn’t speak to a strategy

28 Sep 2010

The Internet firm is redeploying cash from its fastfading dialup business into the acquisition of dotcom sites. Fair enough AOL needs to remake itself. But it s hard to see an investment thesis in buying a video syndication firm, a hyperlocal journalism site and tech blogs.

Zuckerberg gives it away at Internet speed

23 Sep 2010

Andrew Carnegie said a man who dies rich dies disgraced. Facebook s 26yearold founder is taking note early, giving $100 mln to a troubled U.S. city's schools. It s a generous move and a burnished reputation will probably help the social networking magnate s business, too.

Betfair should break UK tech IPO jinx

21 Sep 2010

Tech groups floating in London this year have tanked. Now Betfair is seeking a possible 1.3 bln stg valuation. But it generates cash, has no debt or private equity investor rushing for the exit, and its online betting exchange has transformed the industry. It should be different.

Web firm deal hints at private equity’s next phase

20 Sep 2010

Hellman & Friedman is buying website owner Internet Brands for $640 mln, a 47 pct premium. The leverage broadly available implies the firm could be stumping up half the equity. If so, it s emblematic of how the business model is changing for buyout barons.

Yahoo’s Asian sale resistance looks futile

16 Sep 2010

The Internet firm s stakes in Chinese and Japanese businesses are worth an estimated $15 bln, or about equal to its enterprise value. The ostensible barrier to exiting is taxrelated. But this may not be the problem it seems. Yahoo would be worth more carved up and refocused.

Apple takes preemptive antitrust strike

9 Sep 2010

Regulators have grown increasingly worried by Apple's monopolistic potential in the mobile market. The company's decision to publish rules governing its online store, greenlight Google to advertise within apps and allow developers to use Adobe may forestall government action.

At Apple the gadget, not content, is still king

1 Sep 2010

Nearly every day brings a new contestant in the fight for the American couch potato. Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and YouTube all want to serve up content. While Apple also rents out video, its new TV device allows users to stream rival services. It's still all about the hardware.

Demand Media’s cheap content yields pricey IPO

13 Aug 2010

Registering domain names and publishing gerbilgrooming tips hardly sounds like a $1.5 bln business. It would put the Web firm on a higher multiple than Apple. Even with the bluechip imprimaturs of Goldman Sachs and Lance Armstrong, Demand s prospectus isn t a convincing howto.

Net neutrality is really just a fight over money

12 Aug 2010

Set aside ideology and consider the math. The top four US telecom firms the Pipes have about $140 bln of debt. The biggest beneficiaries of Web access the Swipes have that much cash. But they depend on the Pipes. Symbiotically growing the profit pie looks unavoidable.

Skype IPO may add dose of healthy hype to Valley

9 Aug 2010

The web firm s $100 mln float should be hot. There have been several tech offerings this year, but investor reception has been uneven. A bit of justified excitement over Skype s growth and its backers gains is just what Silicon Valley s capitalists and entrepreneurs need.

India’s peripatetic middle powers MakeMyTrip IPO

30 Jul 2010

The online travel agent downsized the deal, the first IPO for an Indian firm in the U.S. since 2006. But it has half India s web travelagency bookings, and is growing much faster than the market. Add changes to boost profits and MakeMyTrip shouldn t struggle to get its $70 mln.

Russian Internet octopus poses IPO quandary

29 Jul 2010

Digital Sky Technologies, best known for taking stakes in Facebook and hot games company Zynga, may go public in 2011. But DST's tangled web of similar firms with the odd crossholding in some ways echoes the Japanese keiretsu. It may not be easy to define or value.

Betfair can shorten the odds on a successful IPO

26 Jul 2010

Going public is dangerous for tech companies. Ocado blew it. Interactive whiteboardmaker Promethean is far below its issue price. Now another child of the internet, Betfair, is looming. Like the betting exchange's customers, the vendors will only win if they are not too greedy.