chinadotcom (CHINA) acquires stake in chinaholiday.com

   *  Amount:         Undisclosed

   *  Terms:            n/a

   *  Premium:        n/a

   *  Industry:        Content/Communities

   *  Scorecard:      B

HONG KONG, July 17--chinadotcom, the leading pan-Asian integrated Internet company, announced it has acquired a majority stake in chinaholiday.com, the leading Mainland China B2B travel platform. chinaholiday is the only Web site to have the exclusive online franchise for distributing travel products and packages of China Travel Services, the leading state-owned travel agency in China. Through this investment, chinadotcom is well positioned to take full advantage of China's potential to be the largest e-Commerce market in the world.

 

 Mediaplex (MPLX) to acquire AdWare Systems

   *  Amount:         $27.3 million

   *  Terms:            cash and stock

   *  Premium:        n/a

   *  Industry:        Advertising/Marketing

   *  Scorecard:      B-

SAN FRANCISCO, July 17--The advertising technology company Mediaplex announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AdWare Systems, a global media management applications service provider. The acquisition of AdWare will allow Mediaplex to offer to agencies, advertisers and other partners a complete online-to-offline media-management solution, leveraging the latest digital technologies.

 

 Tribune (TRB), KnightRidder.com acquire CareerBuilder.com (CBDR), CareerPath.com

   *  Amount:         $190 million

   *  Terms:            100% stock

   *  Premium:        94%

   *  Industry:        Internet services

   *  Scorecard:      C+

LOS ANGELES, July 17--CareerPath.com announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by a newly-formed company owned by KnightRidder.com and Tribune Company . In addition, KnightRidder.com and Tribune separately announced that they have signed a definitive agreement to acquire CareerBuilder, by $190 million for CareerBuilder at $8 per share in cash, a premium of 94 percent, by a newly formed company owned by the two chains. It is expected that CareerPath and CareerBuilder will merge to form a new, privately held, independent company operated under the current CareerBuilder management team. Under the merger agreement, KnightRidder.com and Tribune will acquire CareerPath in a cash for stock merger. For more on this agreement, see today's Dealtracker article.

 

 eMerge Interactive (EMRG) acquires Billings Livestock Commission, LeMaster

   *  Amount:         $8 million

   *  Terms:            cash and stock

   *  Premium:        n/a

   *  Industry:        Content/Communities

   *  Scorecard:      B+

SEBASTIAN, Fla., July 17--eMerge Interactive , a business-to-business Value Chain Integrator serving the $40-billion U.S. beef-production industry, has agreed to acquire two more organizations to strengthen its position as the nation's largest virtual cattle marketplace: Billings Livestock Commission, located in Billings, Montana, the oldest continuously operated livestock marketer in the state, and a video-auctioning pioneer, and LeMaster located in Gaffney, South Carolina, one of the Carolinas' largest order-buying organizations with annual sales of approximately 150,000 head of cattle. The transactions, which consisted of approximately $8 million in stock and cash, complement eMerge Interactive's growth strategy.

 

 E*TRADE (EGRP) to acquire eInvesting

   *  Amount:         Undisclosed

   *  Terms:            n/a

   *  Premium:        n/a

   *  Industry:        Financial services

   *  Scorecard:      C+

MENLO PARK, July 17--Further accelerating its asset gathering and revenue diversification strategy, E*TRADE Group announced that it has signed a letter of intent to acquire privately-held Electronic Investing Corporation ("eInvesting"), a San Francisco-based provider of personalized securities portfolios. Through the acquisition, E*TRADE will combine its powerful brand and distribution channel of over three million customers with eInvesting's cutting edge dollar-denominated securities platform to provide customers with greater choice and value by enabling them to create personalized portfolios of securities via the Internet.

 

 Aperian (APRN) to acquire OuterNet

   *  Amount:         $5 million

   *  Terms:            1 million shares

   *  Premium:        n/a

   *  Industry:        Internet services

   *  Scorecard:      C+

AUSTIN, July 17--Aperian, a leader in providing managed services and scalable bandwidth for content-intensive e-businesses, announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire OuterNet, a privately held professional services firm specializing in Internet and network services. Under the agreement, OuterNet will become a division of Aperian, initially operating under the OuterNet name. OuterNet shareholders will receive one million shares of Aperian stock in the transaction. With the acquisition of OuterNet, Aperian can offer customers an advanced level of professional services, such as network design, systems administration, and security auditing.

 

 YouthStream Media Networks (NETS) acquires Teen.com

   *  Amount:         $6 million

   *  Terms:            943,709 shares

   *  Premium:        n/a

   *  Industry:        Content/Communities

   *  Scorecard:      A-

NEW YORK, July 17--YouthStream Media Networks , a leading cross-media company focused on the young adult market, announced that it has acquired top community website Teen.com. The purchase price is $6 million in YouthStream common stock, valued at the current market price. As a result, the Company will issue 943,709 unregistered shares to Teen.com.

 

 Hemera Technologies acquires GraphicCorp from Corel (CORL)

   *  Amount:         Undisclosed

   *  Terms:            n/a

   *  Premium:        n/a

   *  Industry:        Content/Communities

   *  Scorecard:      C+

OTTAWA, July 17--Hemera Technologies of Hull, Quebec, makers of the highly acclaimed Photo-Objects digital image collections, and Corel Corporation of Ottawa, Ontario, announced that Hemera has acquired GraphicCorp, a division of Corel, as well as Corel's collection of premium and stock digital photographic images. The addition of the Corel digital library, which includes more than 1.5 million photographs, vector illustrations, floating objects and Web illustrations, to Hemera Technologies' existing electronic library has moved Hemera Technologies into a top position among suppliers of wholly-owned, royalty-free digital images. Financial terms were not disclosed.

 

 Digital Island (ISLD) to acquire SoftAware Networks

   *  Amount:         $450 million

   *  Terms:            9.375 million shares/$20 million cash

   *  Premium:        n/a

   *  Industry:        Speed/Bandwidth

   *  Scorecard:      B

SAN FRANCISCO, July 17--Digital Island, a leading Global e-Business Delivery Network, announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire privately held SoftAware Networks, a leading Internet provider of distributed hosting, for approximately 9.375 million shares of Digital Island common stock and $20 million in cash. Based on Digital Island's closing price on July 14, 2000, the transaction is valued at approximately $450 million. By adding SoftAware Networks' demonstrated engineering and technical leadership in the deployment and management of Intel-based hosting solutions, the acquisition will play a key role in Digital Island's build-out of its broadcast-scale streaming media network.