Going for broke
THE rugged hills of Sardinia make an unlikely backdrop for one of Europe's leading Internet companies. But Tiscali, founded in Cagliari by Renato Soru at the beginning of 1998, has fought and bought its way into the leading pack of firms trying to become profitable pan-European Internet service providers (ISPs). Its latest deal, an all-share euro5.9 billion ($5.1 billion) takeover of World Online, a Dutch company that collapsed in value after its controversial flotation in March, has created Europe's fourth-largest ISP, with a market value of around euro12 billion. That is impressive, but still far short of the likes of Germany's T-Online or France's Wanadoo, both of which are owned by telecoms incumbents. Mr Soru says there will have to be further deals as rivals merge. Can Tiscali stay the pace?
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Going for broke”
From the September 16th 2000 edition
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