By Jon Bernstein, 10 October 2000 09:15
NEWS Good news first, at least for those who believe there's a future in this dot-com stuff. The Times reports how online travel company, ebookers.com, has acquired its parent company - the bricks-and-mortar, Flightbookers - in a deal worth £10m. Before the digerati start breaking open the champagne to enjoy an early morning Bucks Fizz, there is a dangerous precedent of sorts. Ever since Freeserve outgrew its parent, Dixons, the ISP has experienced nothing but trouble& Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos, founder of online bookseller Amazon.com, believes Europe is the great frontier for US firms. The man who was once castigated his employees for making a profit, told the Guardian: "The rate of growth for Amazon in Europe is dramatic, much more dramatic than it has been historically in the US& people here believe ecommerce is not taking off, but that's not the maths I see." In unrelated news, Mr Bezos has just launched www.amazon.fr ... So to the bad news. Frankfurt's Neuer Market is the latest trading floor to suffer high-tech jitters. In a story splashed across the front page of the Financial Times Europe's largest market for growth stocks was hit by mass-scale selling after the Nasdaq Composite Index slipped further in morning trading in New York. The Nemax-50 dropped 5 per cent. Hardest hit was German media group EMTV & Merchandising - down more than 30 per cent. And finally, the world's largest mobile operator is set to make some big moves today. According to the Independent, Vodafone is considering selling in order to fund a Euro 5bn (£2.9bn) buyout of Ireland's Eircell. The paper said Vodafone is looking for a buyer for its Italian fixed-line business, Infostrada. Price tag: Euro 11 bn (£6.5bn)...
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