The German media company, Bertelsmann, which has substantial interests in Dublin, is to acquire a 50 per cent share in the European operations of CompuServe. CompuServe, an Internet Service Provider (ISP), has been acquired by America Online, also an ISP, which is being offered $75 million (£51 million) by Bertelsmann for the share in the European business.
America Online (AOL) and Bertelsmann are involved in a joint venture at the East Point Business Park, Dublin, where they have established a customer services call centre, dealing with clients from Europe. The two companies plan to invest $25 million each in the expansion of CompuServe Europe whose nearest offices are in Bristol and Reading.
America Online is one of the biggest ISPs in the world, with an estimated nine million clients signed up on the Internet. AOL Bertelsmann and CompuServe between them currently have 1.5 million users in Europe, with more than 870,000 subscribing to CompuServe and 700,000 to AOL/Bertelsmann. Worldwide, AOL's subscriber total will rise to around 11.6 million as a result of the acquisition of CompuServe.
Bertelsmann undertook a major expansion in Ireland almost two years ago when it invested £10 million in its Sonopress CDROM plant at Balbriggan, Co Dublin. It also has an associated computer service facility at Swords.
According to a Bertelsmann spokesman, AOL acquired CompuServe's activities from the telecommunications operator WorldCom, in exchange for AOL's network company ANS Communications. (Additional reporting by AFP)
