Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp is investing in US internet service provider Verio Inc to the tune of $100m, up to but not exceeding a 12.5% stake. NTT will buy the stock before Verio goes public, which it has promised to do by August this year. It filed for its initial public offering in February, hoping to raise up to $100m. The filing revealed revenues of $90m and about 80,000 mainly business customers at the ISP. The two companies plan to offer a variety of combined services, including internet access, web hosting, and network security. The access will use NTT’s Arcstar brand name and will start later this year. Englewood, Colorado-based Verio has acquired more than 30 smaller ISPs in the US since 1996. NTT was prevented by Japanese law from making foreign investments until June last year and invested the equivalent of $2.1m into Asia Internet Holding (AIH), a Japan- based ISP with services covering eight Asian countries.
