Excite@home to file for bankruptcy
( 2001-09-29 10:22) (7)
Internet firm Excite@home said Friday it would file for bankruptcy protection and seek to sell its high-speed Internet service to AT&T for US$307 million.
Excite@home, a once high-flying global Web portal and high-speed Internet service provider, becomes one of the biggest Internet companies to fail.
The company was formed in 1999 when the AtHome broadband group bought the Excite portal for some US$6.7 billion.
The firm, based in Redwood City, California, said in a statement it had agreed "to sell essentially all of its broadband Internet access business assets and related services to AT&T for US$307 million in cash," subject to approval of the bankruptcy court.
The filing under Chapter 11 of the US bankruptcy code "will enable Excite@home to maintain operation of its high-speed cable Internet access services and other related services during the sale approval process," the company said.
"This filing is a tool to protect the value of the broadband business for the benefit of the company's financial stakeholders and will help reassure our customers that service will continue uninterrupted through the restructuring process," said Patti Hart, chairman and chief executive officer.
The company operates the Excite Web portal that had been one of the top sites on the Internet but was unable to keep up with giants such as Yahoo and the rise of Microsoft's MSN.
It recently reduced its emphasis on portals to concentrate on high-speed Internet delivery, and has been among the biggest in the US market.
Excite had at least 15 regional sites, including ones in Japan, Britain and Italy, after closing down some of its European portals. It reported 3.2 million subscribers to its high speed cable modem Internet access service as of March 2001.
AT&T was already a major stakeholder in the firm, and was expected to seek to integrate the Internet access services with its own cable TV operations, AT&T Broadband, which may then be sold or spun off.
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