ExciteAtHome to file for bankruptcy

ExciteAtHome said last night it would file for bankruptcy protection and seek to sell its high-speed Internet service to AT&amp…

ExciteAtHome said last night it would file for bankruptcy protection and seek to sell its high-speed Internet service to AT&T for $307 million.

ExciteAtHome, a once high-flying global Web portal and high-speed ISP, becomes one of the biggest Internet companies to fail.

The company was formed in 1999 when the AtHome broadband group bought the Excite portal for some $6.7 billion.

The firm, based in Redwood City, California, said in a statement it had agreed "to sell essentially all of its broadband Internet access business assets and related services to AT&T for $307 million dollars," subject to approval of the bankruptcy court.

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The filing under Chapter 11 of the US bankruptcy code "will enable ExciteAtHome to maintain operation of its high-speed cable Internet access services and other related services during the sale approval process," the company said.

The company operates the Excite Web portal that had been one of the top sites on the Internet but was unable to keep up with giants such as Yahoo and the rise of Microsoft's MSN.

Excite had at least 15 regional sites, including ones in Japan, Britain and Italy, after closing down some of its European portals. It reported 3.2 million subscribers to its high speed cable modem Internet access service as of March 2001.

AFP