5 years ago… ANL invests in Zoom for £15m

27.07.99 Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), owner of the Daily Mail and the London Evening Standard, has bought 50 per cent of Zoom.co.uk for £15m.

The free Internet service provider (ISP) and portal company - launched by retail group Arcadia on 15 June - already receives its news content from ANL and offers ecommerce from Principles, Dorothy Perkins and Red or Dead, among others.

ANL is also launching its own 'women's portal', called Charlotte Street, in September.

27.07.04 Do we think ANL got its fingers burnt with this investment? Of course it did.

ANL offshoot Associated New Media has done well with websites such as This Is London over the past few years and there was a time when land grabbing by free ISPs and portals - what a cool word that appeared - seemed logical. But, funnily enough, there was only room for so many contenders.

A £15m investment back in 1999 didn't actually seem that strange, putting a price of at least £30m on that particular venture. Now, however, we know few such investments were money well spent.

Charlotte Street would also end up in a crowded market with at least three other well-known direct competitors.

Who knows, ANL could say that these experiences stood them in good stead for a Daily Mail website that took years to come to market.