Internet Marriages on the Rise?

The supercharged IPO market has spawned a large number of Net companies, many of which are fighting fierce battles trying to dominate their respective spaces. However, many of these companies will soon realize that it is better to join forces-through mergers and acquisitions-then to destroy each other. There was evidence of this on Tuesday, when bamboo.com (BAMB) announced a merger with Interactive Pictures (IPIX). Both companies are recent IPOs and are in similar businesses. At bamboo.com, users can get 360-degree panoramic virtual tours of homes. Interactive Pictures uses so-called spherical pictures to allow for virtual tours, focused on such industries as travel and entertainment. Thus, with the merger, not only did the companies eliminate unnecessary competition, but also expanded their markets. In fact, there was another such consolidation on Monday, when Digital Island (ISLD) merged with Sandpiper Networks. The companies both provide hosting and intelligent network services. With the merger, the companies were able to expand their customer bases, as well as technology infrastructures. For example, the new company will have 1,200 Web servers within 21 countries. On the news, shares of Digital Island soared 15-11/16 to 38-11/16. Expect the consolidation wave to run strong, as companies attempt to reduce competition,add to their customer bases and product lines. This raises the question: What are the areas to look at for investment opportunities? Here_s a look:
Advertising Networks: CMGI (CMGI) has been acquiring companies in this space at a furious pace, attempting to one-up DoubleClick (DCLK).
Healthcare: True, the online healthcare industry is huge. We_ve already seen consolidation between WebMD and Healtheon, but there will be others. Number one pick: drKoop.com (KOOP). The stock has been languishing, yet it has a strong online brand and in September, logged 14.7 million page views, making the site the No. 1 for healthcare. It would make an attractive acquisition target at its current valuation.
Music: The clear market leader in online music is MP3.com (MPPP), which sports a $2.8 billion market capitalization. To compete against this colossus, the competition will need to quickly consolidate. These companies include eMusic, Musicmaker, Liquid Audio (LIQD) and Launch. Of these, Liquid Audio looks the strongest, with a stable of 4,700 artists, 750 record labels and 37,000 songs.
Online Brokers: To compete, online brokerage firms need to provide many new services, such as distributing IPOs to individual investors. Friedman Billings Ramsey (FBR) has been growing its innovative online investment bank, located at fbr.com. Since starting six months ago, the site has distributed 19 offerings, such as RedHat, Cysive and Jupiter Communications. This expertise would be a nice addition to an online broker trying to distinguish itself in the highly competitive cyber world.