Lycos Shareholders Scare Off Suitor

By Nathaniel Wice Monday, May 10, 1999
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It looks like angry shareholders in second-tier search syndicate Lycos have succeeded in scaring off second-tier suitor Barry Diller. Lycos, the last independent Yahoo-wannabe, has been looking for a partner to help it compete with bulked-up rivals like MSN, Disney-Infoseek, At Home-Excite and AOL-Netscape. But a complicated deal with Diller's USA Networks and Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch was cursed by Lycos shareholders the day it was announced last February.

Three months later, and ahead of a shareholder vote, reports are that Diller is backing out. Internet investors have been stubborn in their wish not to trade part of their accelerating new media company for a piece of Diller's slower-growing old media cable channels, even if the latter actually turns a profit. MORE >>