Micron Electronics Acquires Another Web and Applications Hosting Provider, Lightrealm; Acquisition Boosts Corporation's Hosting Business to Nearly 70,000 Hosted Web Sites - Company Business and Marketing

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, Dec 27, 1999

Underscoring its commitment to Web and applications hosting as a core business, Micron Electronics, Inc., (www.micronpc.com) announced Monday the acquisition of Lightrealm, Inc. -- a Kirkland, Washington-based Web and applications hosting and Internet access company serving small and medium-sized businesses.

Micron Electronics, through a wholly owned subsidiary, acquired all outstanding stock of Lightrealm in exchange for an undisclosed amount of cash.

Lightrealm has annualized revenues in excess of $9 million and more than 50,000 hosted Web sites. With the completion of this acquisition, Micron Electronics' hosting business has grown to nearly 70,000 hosted Web sites and more than 27,000 paid hosting accounts.

"The strategic acquisition of Lightrealm strengthens our leadership position in the burgeoning Web and applications hosting market, and its VServer technology enhances our hosting product offerings for the small and medium-sized business customer," said Joel Kocher, chairman and chief executive officer of Micron Electronics. "Over the past few months, we've been working aggressively to bolster our e-services business through organic growth and acquisition. And, we are considering several options to ensure that the value we are building around this e-business receives a proper valuation by the market."

Lightrealm connects small and medium-sized businesses to the Internet and provides an array of Web hosting and e-commerce packages based on a proprietary virtual dedicated server technology, called VServer. Lightrealm's VServer Web hosting product line provides dedicated and collocation services on the following server platforms: Windows NT, Unix and Linux. The company also offers the following Internet access options: 56 kilobits per second (Kbps) dial-up, ISDN, DSL, frame relay, and redundant T3 and OC3 pipelines that are connected directly to Internet backbones. Established in 1996, Lightrealm is located in Kirkland, WA, and at www.lightrealm.com.

Micron Electronics, Inc. (Nasdaq:MUEI) is a leading direct manufacturer of personal computers, business Internet offerings, Web hosting and business-to-business e-commerce applications for the small- and medium-business, government and education markets. Under the micronpc.com, HostPro, Lightrealm, Micron Internet Services and SpecTek brands, the company offers a wide range of innovative products, services and support. It provides award-winning computer products, such as personal computers, servers and notebooks; SpecTek semiconductor memory products; and a range of data communications services, such as Web hosting, applications hosting, connectivity and e-commerce services. Micron Electronics and its subsidiaries have more than 2,700 employees and approximately $1.4 billion in revenues. The company is based in Nampa, Idaho, and can be reached at www.micronpc.com.