GeoCities Soars On Tech Pact

Shares of GeoCities jumped Friday after the company said it reached a deal with InterWorld to enhance its e-commerce effort.

GeoCities (GCTY), which offers Web sites and communities to Internet users, will license privately-held InterWorld's technology to gear-up e-commerce offerings for its 3.3 million members and 18 million unique visitors per month.

New York-based InterWorld is a "best-of-breed provider" of Internet commerce software for sales, order management, fulfillment and customer service, GeoCities said in a press release.

Shares of GeoCities shot up 7 3/8 or 18 percent, to 48 1/4 Friday morning amid a rally in Internet stocks.

GeoCities said the licensing deal is the first phase of a re-vamp of its GeoShops e-commerce section, which allows merchants to build stores on the Web.

"We are making this growth market easily accessible and affordable to the average merchant to set up and sell products, goods and services over the Internet," GeoCities CEO Thomas R. Evans said in a statement.

Written By Steve Gelsi