Infoseek to Buy WebChat Broadcasting

Infoseek Corp. said it will buy the WebChat Broadcasting System, a 2.7-million member Internet community. Santa Clara-based Infoseek, an Internet search site and directory, said the acquisition will enable it to offer more services such as personalized home pages, chat groups and e-mail. It also will skew its overall user base to a younger group. Founded in 1990, WebChat (https://www.wbs.net) is one of the oldest Internet communities, but has one of the youngest audiences. About 66% of its users fall into the 12-to-34 age group, the fastest-growing group of users on the Internet. Infoseek said it will acquire WBS for approximately $6.7 million, or 350,000 shares of Infoseek stock, based on the company’s recent share price. The acquisition will be accounted for as a pooling transaction and is expected to close by the end of the second quarter. Infoseek’s stock rose $4.06 to close at $25.63 on Nasdaq.