AOL/CIS to account for 1.5m-plus Europeans online
Published: 08 Sep 1997 11:35 BST
AOL/Bertelsmann says it will run CompuServe in Europe as a separate service, emphasising CompuServe's strength in business, professional and computer areas. AOL has presented itself as more of a consumer service.
The European services will have a combined total membership of over 1.5 million, made up of 850,000-plus CompuServe customers and nearly 700,000 AOL members. The combination makes AOL/Bertelsmann the leading pan-European Internet online service - a swift rise considering it only began operations less than two years ago.
Putting the numbers in a global context, CompuServe has around 2.6 million members while AOL Networks recently passed the nine million mark. Clearly, CompuServe's power in the European market was a key factor in the deal.
Subject to approvals, the deal will be completed in three to six months.
"The acquisition of CompuServe's Internet online services will help fuel our global expansion - especially in the critical European marketplace, which we feel is poised for tremendous growth," said Steve Case, chairman and CEO of America Online.
"The expansion of our international reach will help make the interactive medium into a global phenomenon and provide us with new opportunities to apply our scale, expertise and resources."
Did you find this article useful?
53 out of 102 people found this useful
Digg
Slashdot
Del.ici.ous
Stumble
Reddit
