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Disney Puts a Stop to GO.com

Erica Berardi

Walt Disney (DIS) said Monday it will shut down its GO.com Internet portal and convert all of Walt Disney Internet Group's (DIG) outstanding shares of common stock into shares of Disney common stock.

Each outstanding share of Disney Internet Group common stock will be converted into 0.19353 shares of Disney common stock as of March 20. Disney will take charge of $790 million in its fiscal second quarter for a writeoff of intangible assets and another charge of $25 million to $50 million for costs related to severance and other items.

The Walt Disney Internet Group will continue to function under its current management structure as a business segment of the parent company and will operate a variety of Web sites tied to the company's various media and merchandising properties, including DisneyStore.com, Family.com, ESPN.com, ABC.com and ABCNEWS.com.

GO.com's closure will result in the lay off of approximately 400 employees, the majority of whom are based in Sunnyvale, Calif.

"This is a difficult decision, as it impacts both our employees and GO.com users. However, the Internet environment has continued to shift and change, and therefore our strategies must also change," the company said in a press release.

In recent New York Stock Exchange trading, shares of Walt Disney rose 40 cents, or 1.34%, to $30.21, while shares of Walt Disney Internet Group fell 16 cents, or 2.7%, to $5.78.