CMGI - Major Internet backers form $1.5 bln global fund - 500 Beiträge pro Seite

[investor_007]

Major Internet backers form $1.5 bln global fund


(recasts with executive interviews, analyst comment, stock price updates, pvs dateline ANDOVER, switches slug from
TECHNOLOGY-INTERNET-FUND)

By Eric Auchard

NEW YORK, March 1 (Reuters) - Three media investment groups said on Wednesday they had formed a $1.5 billion fund to back international
Internet ventures, as the hot money chasing the Web`s explosive growth looks beyond the increasingly saturated U.S. technology financing market.

CMGI Inc. <CMGI.O> of Andover, Mass., Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Inc. of Dallas and Hong Kong`s Pacific Century CyberWorks Ltd.
<1186.HK> said they would jointly invest up to $1.5 billion in emerging Internet firms worldwide.

On Tuesday, Pacific Century won a bidding war for Hong Kong telecommunications company Cable & Wireless HKT<0008.HK>, offering $35.9
billion in cash and shares in Asia`s largest merger.

The three announced the formation of a new venture capital partnership, with each of the three companies committing to invest up to $500 million to
support development of Internet firms based in Asia, Europe and Latin America.

"Internationally, you`ve got the hyper-growth and all these new business ideas that you used to have here," Michael Wallace, a New York-based
analyst with international investment bank Warburg Dillon Read said, referring to trends concentrated within the United States for much of the past
five years.

"In the U.S., if you look at the consumer segment, you already have the haves and have-nots emerging as the Internet matures and growth rates
slow," said Wallace, who tracks top U.S. companies like America Online, Yahoo! and Lycos.

The partnership brings together Andover, Mass.-based CMGI, often seen as an Internet version of famous stock picker Warren Buffet`s Berkshire
Hathaway group, with buyout firm Hick, Muse, a major old and new media investor based in Dallas. They were joined by Pacific CyberWorks,
which has plans to make Hong Kong the center of an Asian Internet renaissance.

The joint venture, AtVentures Global Partners, will make investments in Web businesses spanning the four core disciplines of the Internet economy:
programming content, community, commerce, and the software and services necessary to link Web businesses to their users and customers, they
said.

Financial terms remain to be worked out as well the partnership structure and members of the fund`s board, officials said. AtVentures Global will have
offices located in centers such as London and Hong Kong and appoint active managing partners in each region.

"I think it`s very complementary if you look at where our respective strengths and where our goals are," Dave Andonian, CMGI`s president of
corporate development, said in a phone interview of the planned fund.

Hicks is best known for forging what is now the largest U.S. radio station network, turning two original stations into the string of 850 outlets formed
by the merger of Clear Channel Communications Inc. <CCU.N> into Hicks` AMFM Inc. <AMFM.O>.

In Latin America, Hicks Muse has invested in Argentina-based Web media network El Sitio Inc. <LCTO.O>, a soccer broadcasting network, and a
minority stake in MVS, Mexico`s largest cable television operator.

"As old media start to converge with new media we have a lot of expertise," Tom Hicks, chairman and chief executive of Hicks Muse said of his
company`s role, adding that: "Our new partners have the Internet expertise and vision. So there`s a lot of opportunities for all of us."

However, Warburg`s Wallace cautioned that, in some cases, Internet valuations in Europe, and more recently Asia and Latin America, have begun to
exceed those in the U.S. market.

"You see some of the same silly valuation trends," he said, referring to how some European Internet Service Providers now seeing market
capitalizations relative to revenues that are two times greater than values put on U.S. Internet access stocks.

[investor_007]

CMGI, Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst and Pacific Century CyberWorks
Form <CMGI.O>


CMGI, Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst and Pacific
Century CyberWorks Form Global Media Convergence Alliance

ANDOVER, Mass., DALLAS and HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 2,
2000--
Will Work Together to Drive Convergence of Traditional and New Media
Assets Within Their Respective Partner Networks
CMGI, Inc. (Nasdaq:CMGI), Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Incorporated
("HMTF"), and Pacific Century CyberWorks Limited ("PCCW;" Reuters:
1186.HK; Bloomberg: 1186) today announced an agreement to form a
strategic alliance that will leverage their respective operational,
technological and financial resources, and respective partner networks
to advance their shared vision for online and traditional media
convergence on a global scale. The alliance is expected to include,
but not be limited to, the acquisition of traditional media companies
for the purpose of pursuing a strategy of integrating traditional
media assets among the holdings of HMTF with the online media and
infrastructure assets of the CMGI and PCCW networks.
Today, HMTF`s media holdings include AMFM Inc. (NYSE: AFM), the
nation`s largest radio broadcasting entity, consisting of 440 radio
stations in 100 U.S. markets; The AMFM Radio Networks; the Chancellor
Marketing Group; and the AMFM New Media Group, including Katz Media
and AMFM`s Internet operations, AMFMi. The media holdings of HMTF also
include LIN Television Corporation and Sunrise Television, with a
total of 25 local stations in 21 markets across the United States.
Outside the U.S., HMTF`s media holdings include the Pan American
Sports Network, which provides soccer and other sports programming,
primarily in Argentina and Brazil; Chilevision and Radio Chile, the
largest cluster of television and radio assets in Chile; a 49%
interest in Media Capital, a diversified Portuguese media group with a
wide range of interests in television, radio, magazines and
newspapers; and a 23% interest in Grupo MVS, S.A. de C.V., which owns
pay-TV, programming and radio broadcasting operations in Mexico. As
previously announced, AMFM Inc. has agreed to merge with Clear Channel
Communications, Inc. (NYSE: CCU), in a pending transaction--expected
to be completed in the third calendar quarter--to create the world`s
largest out-of-home media entity. HMTF will be Clear Channel`s largest
shareholder after the merger, and two of HMTF`s Partners will serve on
Clear Channel`s Board of Directors.
In complement, PCCW will leverage its strategic partnerships with
Intel, Legend Computer (China`s leading PC manufacturer/distributor),
Trans World International, and Hikari Tsushin Inc., in addition to its
investments in more than 40 Internet companies. PCCW will also assist
the alliance through its broadband Internet portal Network of the
World (NOW) service. When launched initially in Asia in mid-2000, NOW
will be the first global digital broadcast service to converge TV and
the Web.
CMGI is expected to leverage its more than 60-company Internet
network and contribute its considerable expertise in identifying and
developing Internet leaders to the alliance.
"The opportunity for true media convergence on a global scale has
never been more real," said CMGI Chairman and CEO David Wetherell. "By
leveraging the multi-national media assets, strategic relationships
and management expertise of Hicks Muse and PCCW, in concert with the
best-of-breed Internet assets of CMGI, we intend to meet this
opportunity head-on. Tom Hicks, Richard Li and I share a common vision
of bringing together the content and distribution strengths of
traditional media with the interactive power of the Internet, and have
agreed to commit considerable resources to make this vision a reality.
I look forward to this exciting opportunity and the potential it holds
for CMGI, its shareholders, and our strategic partners."
"We at Hicks Muse have long believed that the convergence of
traditional and online media is the next big step in the evolution of
the global information economy," said Hicks Muse Chairman and CEO
Thomas O. Hicks. "We cannot imagine a better team to drive that
convergence than CMGI, PCCW and Hicks Muse, each of whom has a unique
and substantial set of strategic, operational, technological, and
financial resources to build value for our respective investors,
customers, business partners and employees. I personally look forward
to working closely with Dave Wetherell, Richard Li and their
colleagues to leverage our respective assets, relationships and
expertise to transform our shared vision into a reality."
The Internet is the arena where telecommunications, the computer,
and the media are converging" said Richard Li, Chairman and CEO of
Pacific Century CyberWorks. "PCCW stands at the center of this
explosive development and, with its partners, Hicks Muse and CMGI,
plans to exploit the rich possibilities this business presents. This
is a value enhancing opportunity for all of us."
On Wednesday of this week, CMGI, HMTF and PCCW announced that
they had formed a new venture capital partnership, Ventures Global
Partners, and that the three parties had each committed to invest up
to US$500 million, for a total of US$1.5 billion, to support the
development of Internet companies based in Asia, Europe and the
Americas.
About Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst
Since its formation in 1989, Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst
Incorporated has completed or currently has pending more than 325
transactions with an aggregate capital value of approximately $43
billion, including invested equity of more than $3 billion in the
media and telecommunications sectors. Its principal office is in
Dallas with additional offices in New York, London and Buenos Aires.
About Pacific Century CyberWorks Limited
Pacific Century CyberWorks Limited (PCCW), the Hong Kong-listed
technology flagship of the Pacific Century Group (www.pcg-group.com)
comprises three main businesses: Pacific Convergence Corporation,
CyberWorksVentures and the Cyber-Port project.
Pacific Convergence Corporation (PCC) plans to be the world`s
leading provider of broadband Internet services, to be initially
launched in Asia, serving more than 130 million cable households.
PCC`s NOW (Network of the World) will offer the world`s first fully
converged service with interactive digital video viewing and Web
access beginning with the first phase in 2000.
CyberWorksVentures (CWV), PCCW`s Internet incubator company, has
invested in some 40 companies around the world, including technology
enablers, e-commerce and content companies.
PCCW`s strategic partners number among the world`s leading
Internet and technology companies, including Intel, the world leader
in semiconductor design and manufacture; CMGI, America`s foremost
Internet operating company; Hikari Tsushin, Japan`s second biggest
Internet company; Legend Computer Holdings, China`s leading PC
manufacturer and distributor; and Trans World International which
holds the world`s largest archive of digital sports content.
About CMGI and CMGI Ventures
With more than 65 companies, CMGI, Inc. (Nasdaq: CMGI) represents
the largest, most diverse network of Internet businesses in the world,
including both CMGI operating companies and synergistic investments
made through its venture capital affiliate, CMGI Ventures. CMGI
leverages the technologies, content and market reach of its extended
family of companies to foster rapid growth and industry leadership
across its network and the larger Internet Economy. Compaq, Intel,
Microsoft, Pacific Century CyberWorks and Sumitomo hold minority
positions in CMGI.
CMGI`s majority-owned operating companies include Engage
Technologies (Nasdaq: ENGA), NaviSite (Nasdaq: NAVI), 1ClickBrands,
1stUp.com, Activate.net, AdForce, Adsmart, AltaVista, CMGI Solutions,
Equilibrium, Flycast, iCAST, MyWay.com, NaviNet, SalesLink and Tribal
Voice. CMGI Ventures has ownership interests in 48 Internet
companies, including Lycos, Inc. (Nasdaq: LCOS), Critical Path
(Nasdaq: CPTH), Silknet (Nasdaq: SILK), Chemdex (Nasdaq: CMDX),
MotherNature.com (Nasdaq: MTHR) and Vicinity (Nasdaq: VCNT).
CMGI`s corporate headquarters is at 100 Brickstone Square,
Andover, MA 01810, Tel: [phone]. CMGI Ventures has offices there
as well as at 3000 Alpine Road, Menlo Park, CA 94028. For additional
information and a full listing of the CMGI and CMGI Ventures
companies, see http://www.cmgi.com and http://www.ventures.com.
This release contains forward-looking statements based on current
expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions about
future events, and these statements are subject to important factors
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those described in the forward-looking statements. The
forward-looking statements in this release address a variety of
subjects including, for example, the expected benefits of the
agreement to form the global media convergence alliance, the expected