Netscape to Buy GE’s Stake in Venture

Netscape Communications Corp., continuing its efforts to evolve into a business software company, said it agreed to buy out General Electric Co.’s stake in their electronic commerce joint venture, Actra, for about $56.1 million in stock. Under terms of the agreement, Netscape will issue 1.7 million of its shares to GE Information Services for its 50% stake in the 2-year-old venture. Based on Netscape’s closing stock price of $33, after gaining 6 cents, the transaction would be worth about $56.1 million. Mountain View-based Netscape said it expects to take a charge for most of the purchase price and expects the acquisition to dilute its earnings for the next two quarters. The acquisition will be accretive to Netscape earnings in the second half of 1998. The companies formed Actra in April 1996 to write software that lets big companies buy products and services from each other through the Internet, a market expected to grow to about $22 billion by the year 2000. Netscape will continue to offer the CommerceXpert products developed by the venture and will hire most of Actra’s employees, the company said. GE shares fell 38 cents to close at $68.75 on the New York Stock Exchange.