Lycos Japan Formed by Joint Venture With Lycos, Sumitomo Corporation and Internet Initiative Japan.WALTHAM, Mass., and TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 14, 1998-- Sumitomo and Internet Initiative Japan invest $9 million in Start-Up Capital Lycos, Inc., Your Personal Internet Guide, today announced that it has entered into a joint venture with Sumitomo Corporation Sumitomo Corporation (住友商事, Sumitomo Shōji) TYO: 8053 is a highly built worldwide trading company (Sogo shosha), and is a diversified corporation based in Tokyo, Japan. It is a member company of the Sumitomo Group. , a $100 billion dollar company and one of Japan's largest trading companies, and Internet Initiative Japan (IIJ IIJ Internet Initiative Japan IIJ Internet Initiative Japan Inc. (Internet Service Provider) IIJ Indo-Iranian Journal IIJ Is It Jazz (Boston band) ), the country's largest Internet Service Provider Internet service provider (ISP) Company that provides Internet connections and services to individuals and organizations. For a monthly fee, ISPs provide computer users with a connection to their site (see data transmission), as well as a log-in name and password. (ISP (1) See in-system programmable. (2) (Internet Service Provider) An organization that provides access to the Internet. Connection to the user is provided via dial-up, ISDN, cable, DSL and T1/T3 lines. ) to create a localized version of the popular Lycos.com Web Site known as Lycos Japan. Lycos has already launched a Japanese beta version A pre-shipping release of hardware or software that has gone through alpha test. A beta version of software is supposed to be very close to the final product, but, in practice, it is more a way of getting users to test the software in the first place under real conditions. of the site at http://www-jp.lycos.com featuring navigation and search capability, and will soon include news, sports, stocks and other services. Terms of the deal include a forty-percent ownership stake by Lycos, with Sumitomo Corporation owning fifty-percent of the venture and IIJ maintaining a ten-percent stake in the entity. Sumitomo Corporation and Lycos will manage the daily operations of the site, including aggregation of local content, sales, marketing and administration from the operations' headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. IIJ will take a role, with its' comprehensive expertise in the Internet, to provide advanced technologies for building enhanced information sites. "This agreement adds to Lycos' international presence by delivering Lycos to the most Web-centric audience in the Asia/Pacific market," said Robert J. Davis, Lycos President 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. . "The venture blends the talents of Sumitomo, a company with a long history of successfully building markets along with the understanding that IIJ, Japan's largest ISP, has of the Internet. Add to this Lycos' expertise in new media and technology and we have what will undoubtedly be the best Web destination for the Japanese consumer." The Japanese market is the most fertile Internet market in the Asia/Pacific region with over 27% of all households expected to be online by the year 2000, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Jupiter Communications. Jupiter also notes that, as a market, Japan enjoys higher salaries compared to other Asia/Pacific countries with relatively cheap technology including a glut of inexpensive PCs. According to a recent study by Dentsu, Inc., Internet ad spending increased nearly 280% in calendar year 1997 over previous spending levels in 1996, with some 6 billion yen spent on online advertising in Japan. Lycos, the Internet's premier navigation center, reaches an estimated 15 million individual users through its worldwide network. The announcement of Lycos Japan strengthens Lycos' already strong international presence, which includes active sites in Korea and throughout Europe. More than 1,000 brands advertise on the Lycos site currently, and Lycos has dozens of licensing and strategic alliances worldwide. "The establishment of Lycos Japan will have a tremendous impact on the Internet market in Japan with its new generation online service integrating community and e-commerce into Web navigation. Sumitomo and IIJ have invested in this venture because we have been successful in building A-Bone, Asia's Internet infrastructure, and we believe that Lycos Japan can become a driving force for the evolution of the Interactive marketplace in Japan," said Mr. Isao Momota, General Manager, Information & Telecommunications, Sumitomo Corporation. About Sumitomo Corporation Sumitomo Corporation (http://www. sumitomocorp.co.jp/index_e.htm) is one of the world's leading traders and distributors of goods and services In economics, economic output is divided into physical goods and intangible services. Consumption of goods and services is assumed to produce utility (unless the "good" is a "bad"). It is often used when referring to a Goods and Services Tax. and one of the largest corporations in Japan. As an integrated business enterprise, the firm has emerged as a major organizer of multinational products, an expediter of ideas, an important international investor, and a powerful force for better global communication through its offices throughout the world. Sumitomo Corporation is rapidly diversifying horizontally and vertically in high-tech manufacturing, logistics, multi-media, finance, retailing, and other key industries. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, the corporation employs close to 9,000 people in 88 countries. About Internet Initiative Japan (IIJ) Founded in 1992, Internet Initiative Japan Inc. (IIJ) started its business as the pioneer of commercial Internet services in Japan and has been taking the initiative to provide the most advanced and reliable Internet environment. IIJ (http://www.iij.ad.jp/) operates the fastest and largest backbone network A backbone network provides a path for the exchange of information between different LANs or subnetworks.[1] A backbone can tie together diverse networks in the same building, in different buildings in a campus environment, or over wide areas. in Asia including A-Bone ( http://www.abone.net ), Asia-wide Internet Backbone (communications, networking) Internet backbone - High-speed networks that carry Internet traffic. These communications networks are provided by companies such as AT&T, GTE, IBM, MCI, Netcom, Sprint, UUNET and consist of high-speed links in the T1, T3, OC1 and OC3 ranges. network and the lines linking Japan and the USA at 245Mbps. With cutting edge Internet technology and diverse capabilities, IIJ and its group companies furnish a full suite of network services starting with provider services and content production and ranging to network systems integration. About Lycos Founded in 1995, Lycos, Inc. (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 : LCOS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) A technology used to make microdisplays for rear-projection TVs and head-mounted displays (HMDs). Each LCoS chip hosts a grayscale LCD shutter sandwiched between a cover glass and a mirror. ) is a New Generation Online Service that combines all aspects of community, leading Web navigation resources and cutting- edge business and consumer e-commerce solutions. Located at http://www.lycos.com, Lycos -- "Your Personal Internet Guide" -- is dedicated to helping each individual user locate, retrieve and manage information tailored to his or her personal interests. Through the acquisition of Tripod, Inc., the leading community site on the Web, located at http://www.tripod.com, Lycos has become the most full-featured community-oriented home base on the Internet, providing free personal homepages to all users. Headquartered near Boston in Waltham, MA, Lycos maintains U.S. offices in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , Pittsburgh, Dallas, Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. and San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden . International offices are located in Germany, Italy, France, the U.K., Spain and The Netherlands. -0- (c) 1998 Lycos, Inc. - Lycos is a registered trademark of Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University, at Pittsburgh, Pa.; est. 1967 through the merger of the Carnegie Institute of Technology (founded 1900, opened 1905) and the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research (founded 1913). . All other product or service marks mentioned herein are those of Lycos or their respective owners. All rights reserved. CONTACT: For more information: Yoshinao Nemoto Sumitomo Corporation +81-3-3217-5060 yoshinao.nemoto@sumitomocorp.co.jp OR Junko Higasa Internet Initiative Japan Inc. +81-3-5259-6310 press@iij.ad.jp OR Phillip Fougere Lycos, Inc. Tel: (781) 370-2684 pfougere@lycos.com OR Matthew Anchin Ruder-Finn Public Relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most Tel: (212) 583-2768 anchinm@ruderfinn.com |
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