Inktomi has snapped up the Impulse! Buy Network Inc, a provider of web merchant outsourcing services for about $113m in stock. The Impulse selling system links offers from a variety of merchants and offers them to web sites to include in their shopping areas. It is used by the likes of AT&T WorldNet, Land’s End, the Go Network and Wal-Mart, among others. Inktomi is buying 100% of Impulse Buy for 900,000 of its shares, which based on Wednesday’s close, values Impulse at $113.0m. Inktomi will add the technology to its shopping engine service that it sells to web portals by the summer and will rebadge it under its own name. The addition of Impulse will give merchants the ability to create a wider variety of special offers, point-of purchase displays and sweepstakes, according to the company. It expects the deal to close by the end of the current quarter.
