Excite partners for Japan
Excite is planting its digital flag in Japan with a joint launch of a service there.
In the escalating fight among search engines, Excite is hoping that its alliance with Itochu Corporation gives it a push ahead in what it describes as the second largest Internet market.
Excite and Itochu--described as the world's fourth largest company in the world as measured by sales--will jointly launch localized Excite services, where they hope to sell ads both locally and internationally.
Many other Internet companies have preceded Excite overseas, including one of its biggest competitors, Yahoo. The alliance is also typical in that it is a 50-50 venture. Excite executives are counting on the alliance to give the company the expertise it needs to break into the Japanese market.
Dai Nippon Printing will own a minority stake in the joint venture. Itochu Techno-Science Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Itochu and the largest computer distributor in Japan, will also own a minority stake in the deal.
"Itochu's business strategy is to partner with leading companies around the world," Eizo Kobayashi, general manager at Itochu Corporation, said in a written statement. "When we evaluated potential Internet media partners, we quickly realized that Excite was the right partner because of the company's leading brand and market presence. We are confident that Excite's brand and services will successfully extend into the Japanese marketplace."
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