The total deal volume involving electronic commerce companies in the third quarter of 1998 totaled $3.9 billion, according to the Winterberry Group Inc., Manorville, NY. The e-commerce and database marketing consultancy referred to the period as a “deal a day” since there were 92 deals in as many days, averaging $43 million each.
Web agencies account for 28 deals; Internet retailers, for 18 deals; and software companies, for 17 deals. Winterberry reports that the three largest deals – accounting for over a third of the total deal volume – were Ticketmaster Online’s acquisition of CitySearch; SOFTBANK’s investment in E*TRADE Group; and USWeb’s purchase of CKS Group.
Significant minority investments in e-commerce for the period were, according to Winterberry: General Atlantic Partners’ $20 million investment in Priceline.com; Fingerhut Companies’ $2 million investment in PC Flowers & Gifts; and the various investors in E-Stamp Corp., NetBuy Corp., and E-LOAN. However, the most active investors (with three or more deals each) were Agency.com, SOFTBANK, Sterling Commerce, and Verio.
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