Microsoft / Teleo

Microsoft Corp. today announced it has acquired Teleo Inc., a provider of voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) software and services that enable the placement of phone calls from PCs to traditional phones and that deliver this technology in unique ways through a variety of software and Web applications. Microsoft expects to combine the technology and expertise of Teleo with the existing VoIP investments of MSN to further develop products and services that connect consumers to the people and information that most matter to them. Financial details were not disclosed.

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in San Francisco, Teleo is a privately held company whose initial planned service offering, also called Teleo, was designed to allow customers to use their PC to make phone calls to cell phones, regular phones or other PCs. Through its integration with Microsoft® Outlook® and Microsoft Internet Explorer, the Teleo service was designed to facilitate click-to-call dialing of any telephone number that appears on-screen, for example through a Web site or via search results or e-mail.

(c) PRNewswire-FirstCall

U.S. Wireless Online / IPOutlet

U.S. Wireless Online, Inc., which owns and operates one of the nation's largest wireless Internet broadband networks, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of IPOutlet, Inc. Transaction details will be filed on form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

IPOutlet offers co-location services, high-capacity broadband connectivity, IP traffic engineering, security services, infrastructure management services, web hosting, disaster recovery services, Virtual Private Networking (VPN) and other customized business solutions.

(c) PRNewswire-FirstCall

Internet Gold / GetPrice

Internet Gold today announced that MSN-Israel, the subsidiary it owns with Microsoft Corporation (50.1% owned by Internet Gold), has acquired 51% of the rights in GetPrice, one of Israel's most popular price comparison sites. The remainder 49% of the rights in GetPrice will continue to be held by Naltec Internet solution provider, the partnership that founded GetPrice and developed its advanced price comparison engine.

Working with GetPrice, MSN-Israel intends to establish a new price comparison site called MSN-Compare. MSN-Compare will operate in parallel to GetPrice, but will target users of other MSN-Israel services.

(c) PRNewswire-FirstCall

Interlink / Assai

Interlink Global Corp. Inc. today announced that it has acquired 100% of the stock of Assai Inc., a New Jersey based wholesale Internet VoIP provider. The company is presently moving Assai's operations and management team to the offices of Interlink in Miami, and has changed the name of Assai to Interlink Global Communications Inc. The purchase price consisted of the Assai's shareholders receiving 1 million shares of Interlink's restricted stock, with the right to earn an additional 1 million shares of restricted common stock if the subsidiary achieves its 2005 and 2006 projections.

Assai Inc., which was formed in 2003, provides Internet wholesale VoIP minutes, (traffic) to major international customers including Jaina Systems in the United States, BD Cell in India, Asia Digicel: in India, Amar Phones in India, Buy VOIP in India and Kharafi National in the US and India. The Company's present wholesale traffic is over 12,000,000 minutes per month.

(c) BUSINESS WIRE

Intel / Skype

Intel is investing in VoIP giant Skype to make sure the company's software products are streamlined for Intel's next generation of dual-core processors.

Intel senior vice president Pat Gelsinger said Wednesday that the two companies were working together at the research and development level to build what he called "good business-class audio," for voice-over Internet protocol networks.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. An Intel representative said Skype does not receive funds from Intel Capital, the chipmaker's investment arm.

Skype, out of Luxembourg, produces software that lets people make phone calls using a PC connected to the Internet. Gelsinger said Skype's software has been downloaded more than 150 million times since its introduction nearly two years ago. Skype advertises that it has as many as 3 million simultaneous users at any time of day. While Skype's annual revenue has not been disclosed, analysts suggest that its valuation could be in the $6 billion to $10 billion range.

(c) news.com

Buongiorno / Freever

Concentration parmi les fournisseurs des portails internet mobile. Après MyAlert, Vitaminic ou plus récemment Diora, la société italienne Buongiorno annonce le rachat de Freever pour 18.5 millions d'euros en cash, plus un montant variable d’au maximum 15,5 millions d’euros basé sur le résultat opérationnel qui sera réalisé par Freever en 2005.

Fondée en France en 1999, la société Freever est l'un des pionnier du tchat sur téléphone WAP et devrait générer plus de 12 millions d'euros de chiffre d'affaires grâce à ses communautés mobiles, présentes sur les portails des principaux opérateurs cellulaires européens.

(c) NetEconomie.com

Internet Gold / TIPO

Internet Gold today announced that Goldmind, Internet Gold's subsidiary, has acquired a 50% interest of Hype Active Media Ltd ordinary shares ("Hype") and 50.1% of Hype's management shares. Hype is the owner and operator of TIPO, Israel's leading children's portal. In July 2005, TIPO achieved approximately 30 million page views, making it Israel's highest rated portal targeting children aged 8-15. Hype's founders will continue to hold the remaining of Hype's shares, and to take an active role in its operations. Mr. Eli Holtzman, CEO of Internet Gold, has been named the company's new chairman.

Launched in 2003, TIPO offers a broad selection of exciting content and youth-oriented applications, including web-based e-mail, instant messaging, chat-rooms and forums, as well as personal website building and hosting services. During July 2005, approximately 551,000 individual users visited TIPO.

(c) PRNewswire-FirstCall

Yahoo / Alibaba.com

Yahoo Inc. is paying $1 billion in cash for a 40 percent stake in China's biggest online commerce firm, Alibaba.com, strengthening the ties that international companies are forging in the world's second-largest Internet market.

Yahoo said it will merge its China subsidiaries into Alibaba as part of Thursday's deal, the biggest in a flurry of investments by foreign Internet firms eager for access to China's soaring number of Web users, now pegged at 100 million.

Alibaba runs a Web site that matches foreign buyers with Chinese wholesale suppliers, plus the popular consumer auction site Taobao.com, which competes with the Chinese subsidiary run by eBay Inc., the world's top online auction company.

The new Yahoo-Alibaba combination will include 3721.com, a Chinese-language search engine that Yahoo acquired last year for $120 million.

That will put it in competition with China's most popular search engine, Baidu.com, whose initial stock offering in the United States last week set off a buying frenzy. Its share price soared more than 350 percent in its first day of trading before declining this week.

Consumer-to-consumer online auctions in China totaled about $500 million last year, while business-to-consumer sales were about $1 billion, according to Joe Tsai, Alibaba's chief financial officer. He said only about 4 million people in China have used online commerce.

But Tsai said online sales are expected to grow 80 percent annually over the next three years.

With its 40 percent stake valued at $1 billion, Yahoo clearly expects huge growth from Alibaba, whose revenue was $68 million last year. Advertisers and companies pay $5,000 to $10,000 per year for membership in its commercial online auction service. It does not charge fees for individual auction listings as eBay does.

Yahoo said its investment will make it the biggest shareholder in Alibaba, which has 2,300 employees and is based in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, southwest of Shanghai.

(c) AP