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Internet Security & Identity Authentication Issue
Four analysts and top management from nine sector firms examine the Security/Internet Security & Identity Authentication sector in this 51 - page Issue from The Wall Street Transcript.
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Bear Stearns expert likes Barry Diller's vision Full article published: 12/07/1999     VICTOR B. MILLER IV is a Managing Director with Bear Stearns & Company, Inc.


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TWST: Victor, which stocks are you interested in right now?

Mr. Miller: One of the ones I'm most interested in right now is USA Networks (Nasdaq:USAI), which Niraj and I both cover. The reason I like the company is because if you look at the model and the vision of Barry Diller, again, it's to take content assets, link them with distribution assets, and link that to e-commerce. In what USA Networks calls "contextualized commerce," the company believes that if you've got a specific type of demographic watching a particular show, then why wouldn't you want to sell them a product directly, maybe using Home Shopping Network's purchasing, ordering-taking and fulfillment prowess? Why not sell a product to a demographic that is more likely to respond to the offer and more likely to purchase the product? The company is willing to do this on behalf of itself or other companies.

They try to create a whole new model and there's going to be some more pieces flowing into this business. They're very, very inquisitive and very strategic.

Cash flow should grow over 20% for the next two years. The stock's trading about 14 times cash flow.

If you look at their track record, what they've done with the assets they have acquired, it's impressive. USA bought the Universal studio and cable assets from Seagram (NYSE:VO), they bought them for 12-13 times trailing cash flow. Now those assets, just two years later, are going to be 8.5 times cash flow. Anybody would kill to buy cable assets for that kind of multiple.

If you look at Ticketmaster, they bought Ticketmaster for 800 million and now just the partial spin-off of Ticketmaster, Ticketmaster CitySearch (Nasdaq:TMCS) is worth 1.6 billion to the company, and meanwhile the traditional Ticketmaster is contributing 40+ million in cash flow to the company. USA effectively bought Ticketmaster at a negative multiple within six months of the purchase. You've got a tremendous return.

If you look at Barry Diller, how many executives are you going to see who have run movie studios, run the Fox Network, run the ABC Network, who know the broadcast side. He has run QVC. He knows the e-commerce side. He ran the Paramount movie studio. He knows content. There are not a lot of executives out there that have done the whole content, distribution and e-commerce experience as has Barry Diller.


Tickers included in this excerpt: USAI,TMCS,VO

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This interview is a small excerpt from a comprehensive and in-depth (21,000 words) Roundtable discussion of Broadcasting Stocks featuring other analysts and published in The Wall Street Transcript on12/6/99. For more information call (212) 952 7400. The Wall Street Transcript does not endorse any of the comments made by interviewees, and does not make stock recommendations.

Copyright 1999, Wall Street Transcript Corp.

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