America Online Inc said it will acquire online map and navigation services provider, MapQuest.com Inc in a stock deal worth $1.1bn. The online giant said the addition of New York-based MapQuest to its local content network Digital City and movie listing guide and ticketing service MovieFone, offers new advertising and business opportunities built around mapping and directions for areas of entertainment, dining and shopping online. The deal will provide AOL subscribers, including members of CompuServe and visitors to Netcenter and ICQ, with maps, directions and new ways to customize their experience, Dulles, Virginia-based AOL said.
The move fits into the company’s AOL Anywhere strategy by providing maps and directions on multiple devices, such as smart phones, palm devices and other PDAs. The company has been aggressively moving into this space by forming alliances with satellite companies, mobile phone firms and PDA manufacturers. The company has also made investments in satellite TV firms to keep on top of the consumer Net access market.
Bob Pittman, president and COO at AOL, said, Like calendaring, maps are a great example of a product that is easier to use and more useful online than offline. He added, With AOL’s resources and infrastructure behind MapQuest, we can accelerate the distribution of maps on smartphones, PalmPilots and other non-PC devices.
Earlier this month, AOL announced the acquisition of Tegic Communications, a company specializing in text entry for wireless devices. AOL said that it plans to use Tegic’s T9 text-entry software in AOL-branded smartphones and set-top boxes, and the two companies have been collaborating on wireless IM for the last six months. Under the terms of yesterday’s deal, shareholders of MapQuest will receive 0.32 shares of AOL common stock for each share of MapQuest stock, the companies said. The deal is expected to close in the spring of 2000.
Around since 1996, MapQuest’s content includes maps in 78 countries in five languages and, according to spokespeople at the firm, generates the majority of all internet mapping page views. It delivers map services to almost 1,000 web sites and is linked to by more than 170,000 others, the company said.
