Does it make sense to buy the company in order to add a large new base of subscribers in a single transaction? America Online Inc is exploring a bid for CompuServe Inc, the Washington Post reported, citing industry sources for the tale. An independent research firm in New York, Wall Street Strategies, fueled the rumor by saying that CompuServe would be a good acquisition target due to its depressed stock price. Compuserve shares hit a five-month low of $9.125 earlier this week before bouncing back up to $12.625 Wednesday on the strength of the takeover talk. Neither company had any comment.
