America Online Wins OK to Purchase Netscape

America Online Inc. won Justice Department approval to buy Netscape Communications Corp., a deal that will create an unparalleled presence on the Internet. “Obviously, we’re pleased and look forward to the Netscape shareholder meeting on the 17th of March,” said Jim Whitney, a spokesman for AOL at its headquarters in Dulles, Va. Netscape stockholders vote then on accepting the deal. The new firm would team up with Sun Microsystems Inc., which would help develop and market the Internet software products made by Netscape under a side agreement that also won antitrust approval. The Justice Department, uncharacteristically commenting on such an action, said in a statement after markets closed that it would not “challenge the transactions, having concluded that neither the merger nor the alliance violates antitrust laws.”