February sees brisk trade in Internet companies

Buyers spent nearly $6 billion to acquire 130 Internet companies last month, according to Webmergers.com, a research-backed online market for buyers and sellers of dot-com companies. Acquisitions of Internet companies during the month more than doubled the shut-down rate, with a reported 52 dot-coms closing their doors during the same period. A total of 57 of the acquisitions were Internet destinations, a category that includes retail sites, in deals representing about $1 billion. Europe was a significant focus of both buying and selling activity, with major deals of the month including eBay’s acquisition of European online auction company iBazar S.A. in a stock deal valued at between $66 million and $112 million. Webmergers.com notes that at least 327 dot-coms including b2b and b2c sites have shut down since January 2000, with half of those closures occurring in the past three months.