Business Week Online reports speculation that Excite@Home is back on the market, only months after it was formed in the $6.7bn merger between Excite Inc and @Home Corp. The magazine cites sources close to both Excite@Home and Yahoo Inc claiming that the companies have been holding merger talks for the past six weeks. Apparently Yahoo is prepared to pay even more than Excite@Home’s $17bn market value in order to acquire the broadband capabilities it lacks. Complicating the deal is Yahoo’s reluctance to manage an infrastructure business like @Home’s, and the equal unwillingness of AT&T – an investor in Excite@Home – to part with its stake in the broadband company. Possible solutions include Yahoo’s buying Excite, with AT&T and Yahoo running @Home as a joint venture. Business Week’s sources warn, however, that discussions are preliminary and much work remains to be done before a deal could be reached.
