InfoSpace May Buy Parts of Excite.com

Excite@Home has agreed to sell parts of the Excite.com Internet portal to InfoSpace Inc. for $10 million, a deal that would require the approval of a bankruptcy court.

InfoSpace, a Bellevue, Wash., provider of online directories and other services, wants to buy the Excite.com domain name, trademarks and user traffic.

Excite’s equipment and employees would not be part of the proposed sale. Redwood City, Calif.-based Excite@Home also would still own the broadband-specific portal it offers to its cable-modem subscribers.

Excite@Home was formed in 1999 when cable-access provider At Home Corp. bought the Excite portal for $6.7 billion. The company fairly quickly sputtered, and now a bankruptcy court is to consider whether Excite@Home can be sold to its largest shareholder, AT&T; Corp., for $307 million.

A group of Excite@Home’s bondholders oppose the deal, saying the price is far too low.

InfoSpace shares fell 2 cents to close at $1.62 on Nasdaq.