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Akamai to Acquire INTERVU to Form Largest Internet Streaming Media and Broadband Content Delivery Company.


Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. &SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 7, 2000

$2.8 billion acquisition to create industry leader

with over 1,000 customers

Akamai Technologies Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) is a company that provides a distributed computing platform for global Internet content and application delivery, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  (NASDAQ NASDAQ
 in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations

U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on
: AKAM AKAM Akamai Technologies, Inc. (stock abbreviation)
AKAM Automated Key Access Machine
), the foremost provider of global, high performance services for the delivery of Internet content, streaming media, and applications, and INTERVU Inc. (NASDAQ: ITVU), the leading service provider for Internet audio and video delivery solutions, announced today that they have signed a definitive agreement for Akamai to acquire INTERVU in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at approximately $2.8 billion. Each share of INTERVU common stock will be exchanged for 0.5957 shares of Akamai common stock. Upon closing, this acquisition will make Akamai the largest global provider of Internet content, audio and video delivery services.

Akamai, the exclusive network provider for Apple QuickTime TV, will combine its global network with that of INTERVU, a pioneer in the quickly expanding streaming market. Together, the two companies will support all leading streaming media formats, and will have over 1,000 customers, including AOL (A division of Time Warner, Inc., New York, NY, www.aol.com) The world's largest online information service with access to the Internet, e-mail, chat rooms and a variety of databases and services.  MovieFone, Apple, CBS Corporation, CNN CNN
 or Cable News Network

Subsidiary company of Turner Broadcasting Systems. It was created by Ted Turner in 1980 to present 24-hour live news broadcasts, using satellites to transmit reports from news bureaus around the world.
, General Motors, GO Network, IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) , Microsoft, NBC NBC
 in full National Broadcasting Co.

Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network.
, Paramount Digital Entertainment, Quokka quokka

a small, nocturnal wallaby (Setonyx brachyurus) which is especially sensitive to nutritional myopathy. Called also Rottnest quokka.
 Sports, Turner Broadcasting, Universal Studios, and Viacom.

The companies will jointly have more than 3,000 servers in 100 networks across 40 countries, expanding upon what was already the largest fault-tolerant network for the delivery of streaming media. The company's headquarters will remain in Cambridge, MA, and will include offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Cupertino, London, Los Angeles, Munich, New York New York, state, United States
New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of
, Paris, San Diego, San Mateo, Seattle, and the Washington D.C. area.

&uot;By combining with INTERVU we will create the hands down leader in the field of Internet streaming,&uot; said George Conrades, chairman and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board.  of Akamai. &uot;INTERVU's powerful customer base and proven track record, together with Akamai's innovative technology and global network, is a winning and complementary combination. This merger will solidify Akamai's position in the streaming arena and will provide customers with the most comprehensive, end-to-end content delivery solution in the market today. Following our recent acquisition of Network24, our agreement with INTERVU will ensure that Akamai will play the leading role in defining the future direction for streaming content over the Web.&uot;

&uot;By joining forces with an organization of Akamai's caliber, we can truly empower our customers with the broadest range of content delivery solutions available. Our combined company will be poised to become the de facto standard Hardware or software that is widely used, but not endorsed by a standards organization. Contrast with de jure standard.

de facto standard - A widespread consensus on a particular product or protocol which has not been ratified by any official standards body, such as ISO,
 for integrated media delivery services,&uot; according to Harry Gruber, founder and CEO of INTERVU. &uot;We are confident that together we will introduce a new generation of streaming, including enhanced performance and reliability, to the Web's top properties.&uot;

By acquiring INTERVU, Akamai believes it will be best positioned in the market to offer:

- Integrated Applications - meeting customer demand for solutions

that combine the delivery of streaming media with dynamic and

personalized content, and enable an interactive broadband media

experience over a high-performance delivery network.

- Broadest Network Reach - integrating INTERVU's network of

regional staging hubs for audio and video with Akamai's global,

edge delivery network, the combined companies will create a

single, massive platform that incorporates broadband networks and

satellite distribution, for the delivery of high quality

streaming media.

- Proven Expertise - deploying the most experienced team in the

industry, including hundreds of employees who are focused on

providing world-class streaming services.

- Comprehensive Solution - offering broadest range of end-to-end

streaming media solutions, including signal acquisition,

production, encoding and delivery as well as value added Value Added

The enhancement a company gives its product or service before offering the product to customers.

Notes:
This can either increase the products price or value.
 services

from applications such as the Network24 Qcast offering from

Akamai and Netpodium from INTERVU.

Under terms of the agreement, Akamai will acquire INTERVU by issuing approximately 9.3 million shares of Akamai common stock in exchange for all outstanding shares of INTERVU stock. Additionally, Akamai will convert outstanding INTERVU stock options and warrants into approximately 2.8 million Akamai options and warrants. The merger will be effected on a tax-free basis to INTERVU stockholders and will be accounted for as a purchase. The acquisition is subject to certain closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and the approval of INTERVU stockholders, and is expected to close during the second quarter of 2000.

About INTERVU Inc.

INTERVU provides Web site owners and content publishers with services for the delivery or &uot;streaming&uot; of live and on-demand video and audio content over the Internet. INTERVU's services automate the publishing, distribution and programming of video and audio content. INTERVU's customers use its video and audio distribution services to transmit entertainment, sports, news, advertising, business communications, and distance learning content. INTERVU's current customers include CNET (body) CNET - Centre national d'Etudes des Telecommunications. The French national telecommunications research centre at Lannion. , CNN, Excite@Home, House of Blues House of Blues (HOB) is a chain of music halls and restaurants founded in 1992 by Hard Rock Cafe founder Isaac Tigrett and his friend and investor Dan Aykroyd. It is a home for live music and southern-inspired cuisine, whose clubs celebrate African-American culture, specifically , Investor Broadcast Network (formerly Vcall), Microsoft, MSNBC MSNBC Microsoft/National Broadcasting Company , NBC, NetRadio.com, Quokka Sports, Saatchi &Saatchi, Tunes.com and Turner Broadcasting. Additional information can be found at www.intervu.net.

About Akamai

Akamai Technologies, Inc. is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has offices in Cupertino and San Mateo, California San Mateo is a city in San Mateo County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is one of the larger suburbs on the San Francisco Peninsula, located between Burlingame to the north, Foster City to the East, and Belmont to the south. ; and Munich, Germany; Paris, France; and London, England. Akamai provides global Internet content, streaming media, and applications delivery services for hundreds of customers, improving Web site speed and reliability and enabling richer, more engaging Web site content. To date, Akamai has delivered millions of high-quality audio and video streams. Currently, Akamai has deployed over 2,000 servers in excess of 40 countries across more than 100 different telecommunications networks. Akamai (pronounced AH kuh my) is Hawaiian for intelligent, clever and cool. Additional information can be found at www.akamai.com.

Except for the historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that might cause actual results to differ from those foreseen, including the market acceptance for INTERVU's specialized services, technological change and intense competition, as well as the other risks detailed from time to time in INTERVU's SEC reports, including the report on Form 10-K Form 10-K

A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information.


Form 10-K

See 10-K.
 filed on March 30, 1999.

The release contains information about future expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai's management that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor Safe Harbor

1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated.

2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive.
 provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and  of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, the dependence on Akamai's Internet content delivery service, a failure of its network infrastructure, the complexity of its service and the networks on which the service is deployed, the failure to obtain access to transmission capacity and other factors that are discussed in the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-1 and other documents periodically filed with the SEC.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Business Wire
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2000, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Publication:Business Wire
Geographic Code:1USA
Date:Feb 7, 2000
Words:1084
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